By Matthias Inverardi
DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Hapag-Lloyd customers have cancelled 30% of shipments to the United States from China, spooked by the trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies, a spokesperson for the German container shipping group told Reuters on Wednesday.
Instead, there has been a “massive increase” in demand for consignments from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the spokesperson added.
Tariffs on goods from China introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump have triggered a trade conflict that has resulted in 145% U.S. duties on Chinese goods and 125% Chinese duties on U.S. goods.
The spokesperson said the company was using smaller vessels on the route to the U.S. in some cases, while keeping the number of passages unchanged.
The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that global economic output will slow in the months ahead as Trump’s steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners begin to bite.
Trump later on Tuesday expressed optimism that he would make progress with China that would substantially lower tariffs on its imports but also warned that “if they don’t make a deal, we’ll set the deal”.
(Writing by Ludwig Burger; editing by Matthias Williams, Kirsten Donovan)
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