(NAFB.com) – Ocean container rates from Asia to North America saw a slight uptick last week as the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade strategy roils global markets, Freightos reported Wednesday. Rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast were up 10% week over week to $2,465 per forty-foot equivalent unit, per an April 16 market update. Rates to the East Coast went up 3% to $3,647 per FEU. As shippers navigate trade uncertainty, a pullback in China-to-U.S. volumes, paired with an increase in demand from other Asia trade lanes, may reflect “diverging rates on the port-pair level,” according to Freightos. U.S. shippers have been frontloading goods since November to get ahead of tariffs. The administration’s plans to roll out country-specific reciprocal tariffs April 9 prompted another rush to move cargo before the new duties went into effect.
