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Under the shadow of US tariff policies, the news of "shipping companies suspending operations on a large scale" has been widely circulated. Along with the suspension of the US route, the Asia Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America routes have risen against the trend, and overseas warehouses have become an effective choice to maintain certainty, leading to a rapid increase in customer inquiries.

Since April 2nd, the US government has officially implemented a policy of reciprocal tariffs, with the highest tariffs on the Chinese market reaching 245% so far. The rapidly increasing tariffs have had a significant impact on the foreign trade industry, affecting the shipping market.

On the one hand, foreign trade merchants are beginning to seek more diversified business layouts, and on the other hand, the shipping industry is actively striving for Chinese goods to go global. The European market, South American market, and Southeast Asian market have become "alternative solutions" for the US market

Foreign trade companies dare not ship goods rashly, shipping companies have taken action on the transportation capacity of the US route

Currently, the suspension of flights in the US market has become the most concerning issue in the industry, and it is also a signal for the future direction of the foreign trade market.

According to the latest updated consolidated shipping weekly report by shipping consulting firm Drury, 83 main east-west routes will be cancelled in the next five weeks, accounting for 12% of the planned 713 routes. Among these 83 voyages, approximately 53% are trans Pacific eastbound routes (referring to routes departing from Asia, passing through the Pacific, and ultimately reaching North America), 29% are Asia Nordic and Mediterranean routes, and 18% are trans Atlantic westbound routes (mainly referring to sea routes connecting Europe and the east coast of the Americas).

This data shows that the shipping capacity from China to North America will be significantly reduced, and it is also the route with the largest change among the world's major shipping channels.

According to data provided by Flexport to Interface News, the recent increase in US air routes has led to a significant reduction in capacity in April, with the market experiencing a decrease of approximately 20% in capacity. Additionally, due to adjustments or temporary interruptions in some route services, available seats have become even more scarce.

The Global Times reported that container bookings to the United States surged in the first quarter, but there are now signs of a "collapse", with a widespread "booking freeze" phenomenon for imported containers in the United States. According to data provided by trade data platform Vizion, due to tariff uncertainty, container bookings to the United States have significantly decreased by 67% compared to the previous week, and container bookings departing from the United States have decreased by 40%.

Meanwhile, US ports have also issued warnings of a decline in import volume. The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California are the two largest ports in terms of throughput in the United States. According to a report by the Global Times, executives at both ports have issued warnings that port throughput will decline in the future. In the second half of 2025, the cargo volume of Long Beach Port may plummet by 20%, and the throughput of Los Angeles Port is expected to decline by 10% starting from May. It is also expected that the port will have 12 cancelled or blank voyages in May.

Foreign trade companies are indeed hesitant to book shipping easily.

According to Cen Xuexin, Customer Management Director of Flexport Asia Pacific, after Trump launched the 2.0 tariff policy, customers' shipping attitudes are mainly divided into three types. One is that certain brand products have high uniqueness and high market demand, and are still being shipped; The second option is for some customers to temporarily suspend sea freight bookings departing from Asia until the direction of tariff policies becomes clearer. In addition, many overseas e-commerce companies have long been mentally prepared for this and have been actively expanding into other markets or diversifying production capacity for a long time.

After tariffs led to a decline in freight demand, shipping companies naturally had to further reduce the capacity of their routes to the United States. Recently, the Premier Alliance, a container alliance composed of three Asian shipping giants, Ocean Network Shipping (ONE), Hanxin Shipping (HMM), and Yangming Shipping, has decided to suspend the trans Pacific freight route to the United States, which was originally scheduled to open next month.

It is reported that the Ocean Alliance, consisting of four shipping companies including COSCO, CMA CGM, EMC, and OOCL, will cancel three routes towards Los Angeles at the end of April, and ZIM shipping company also plans to suspend operations for two months.

Interface News has sought confirmation from freight forwarding companies regarding this matter. Some freight forwarding companies have stated that they have not received any notification yet, while others claim that there are indeed many empty ships in the OA Alliance. In addition, on social media platforms, several freight forwarders have also reported that many ships heading to North America have been suspended.

Interface News also noted that the Trump administration in the United States has decided to temporarily reduce tariffs on Chinese smartphones, laptops, and other electronic products. However, according to US customs data, the import value of technology products such as smartphones and computers accounts for more than 20% of the total value of imported goods in the United States, mainly by air freight. The proportion of these goods in sea freight is extremely low, almost negligible. Therefore, this tariff measure failed to substantially improve the demand for trans Pacific shipping.

According to Linerlytica's analysis cited by "Manhang Observation", although the tariff situation has eased, 30% to 40% of goods are still unable to enter the US market due to high tariffs, mainly affecting shipping companies that have significant trade relations with China, such as Hede, Matson, SeaLead, etc.

The impact is not limited to the Chinese market. Recently, due to ongoing political and economic pressure from US President Trump on the Venezuelan government, Maersk and Daffy Shipping announced that they will cease joint operations on the Ceiba Express route starting this month.

The route originally connected multiple ports such as Everglades in Florida, Kingston in Jamaica, La Guaira in Venezuela, and Santo Tomas de Castilla. Two Daffy container ships and one Maersk container ship were originally deployed, with a turnaround time of three weeks.