Dimerco’s Asia Pacific Freight Report for August has stated shippers are uncertain about planning air cargo schedules as the US tariff deadline of 1 August approaches, but are rushing to export goods from southeast Asia to the US in the meantime.
The US has now issued tariff letters to 25 countries in total. These letters lay out the country-specific reciprocal tariff rates that will apply as of 1 August, when the latest extension to the pause on tariffs expires.
Tariff changes could affect costs, routing, and demand, said Dimerco.
“Last minute shifts may trigger market volatility, especially for Asia US and intra-Asia trade lanes.”
Kathy Liu, vice president, global sales and marketing, Dimerco Express Group, said: “With the updated US tariffs taking effect on August 1, shippers are unsure how to plan their shipping schedules.
“This is especially true for key manufacturing and transit hubs such as Singapore, India, Taiwan, and China, where final tariff announcements are still pending.
“At the same time, August is peak typhoon season in South China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines, which may cause delays and flight rescheduling in these areas.”
According to data from Dimerco, demand for exports from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines to the US continues to surge ahead of the August tariff increase deadline.
Malaysia is facing a 25% US tariff, the Philippines a 19% rate and Thailand a rate of 36%. Consequent export demand to the US has led to rising rates and tighter capacity.
There is a similar surge in shipments from Singapore, but the tariff rate to be applied to Singapore will influence its role as a regional hub in Asia-Pac and could significantly impact capacity demand, said Dimerco.
In Vietnam, capacity is extremely tight, as airlines prioritise US-bound flights from major hub stations, said Dimerco. Since Vietnam does not have direct flights to the US, shipments rely on connecting flights through these hubs.
There is also high demand and limited capacity from South Korea to the US.
China and US negotiations will continue as the two countries currently have until 12 August for tariff negotiations and this deadline could possibly be extended.
According to data from Dimerco, airfreight capacity from China to Asia, Europe and the US is currently largely soft with stable rates.
Though due to the reduction in load capacity resulting from high temperatures in North China, the carrying capacity of airlines has been significantly reduced, especially on routes to the US.
Notably, while Hong Kong to Asia demand remains strong with tight capacity, demand is in fact declining to the US west coast.
In Taiwan, which has not yet been assigned a tariff rate, the situation is also changeable.
Technology companies in sectors such as artificial intelligence continue to drive exports and airfreight rates for direct flights from Taipei to the US are rising.
Despite the southeast Asia export surge highlighted by Dimerco, the WorldACD Market Data report for 14–20 July found air cargo tonnages from southeast Asia to the US had rebounded due to a previous drop in volumes rather than a pre-tariff surge.
Source: https://www.aircargonews.net/data-news/tariffs-see-shippers-rush-exports-but-hesitate-over-airfreight-schedules/1080446.article
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