b'AUGUST 2024CHINA TRADE 35(REDUXcontinued fromtariffs. A final determination isthat in the first half of 2024Top Import Carriers from China to U.S.page 34) expected sometime in AugustUSexportstoChinawereTEUs VARany subsidies were within theandthetariffswillonlygo753,106TEUswhiletheVOCC H1 2024 H1 2023 %WTO rules and instituted, tointoeffecttwoweeksafterboxcountforthefirsthalf safeguardthedevelopmentthat announcement. of 2023 was 762,494 TEUs.CMA-CGM (CMDU) 818,628 705,050 16rightsandinterestsoftheWiththelowwaterHowever,itisimportantEVERGREEN LINE (EGLV) 644,867 657,813 -2COSCO SHIPPING LINES CO LTD (COSU) 612,096 511,411 20electrical vehicle industry problems of the Panama CanaltopointoutthatmostofMSC-MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY S A - MEDU538,770 548,743 -2QuiteasidefromtheandtheHouthisattacksintheagriculturalexportsto(MSCU) 505,819 417,152 21MAERSK LINE (MAEU)WTOcomplaint,ChinahastheRedSeaforcinglongChina from the US move inOCEAN NETWORK EXPRESS PTE LTD (ONEY) 458,740 340,013 35alsolaunchedinvestigationsdiversionsandthethreatofbulkorbreakbulkshipasORIENT OVERSEAS CONTAINER LINE LTD (OOLU) 380,958 341,621 12intoEUexportssuchasanEastCoastdockworkersopposedtocontainershipsZIM INTEGRATED SHIPPING SERVICES LTD (ZIMU) 257,869 196,324 31French cognac and EU pork.strike,itisntsurprisingthatandthusnotreflectedinYANG MING (YANG MING JOINT SERVICE AGREEMENT) (YMJA) 242,634 17 1,455,410HYUNDAI MERCHANT MARINE (HDMU) 234,068 159,979 46The EU wasnt alone inthe West Coast has benefitedTEUs.Nonetheless,exportsTotal 5,235,413 4,525,991 16its assessment of Chinas EVfrom the surge in box businessto China are. through the first strategy.InMaytheBidenfromChina.However,withhalf of 2024, down.AdministrationannouncedthelowwatercrisisintheStill, there is the possibilityTop Export Carriers from U.S. to Chinathe US also hiked tariffs onPanama Canal slowly abating,thatwhilethefundamental ChinaEVsto100%frommore traffic could be headingdifferenceswillremainthatTEUs VAR25%andraisedtariffsonbacktotheEastCoastthe tensions between the USCARRIER H1 2024 H1 2023 %batteries from 7.5% to 25%. should a longshoremens strikeand China will lessen. At thisCMA-CGM (CMDU) 146,777 171,766 -15But as Vickers points out,be averted.writing,agroupofseniorCHINA OCEAN SHIPPING COMPANY (COSU) 117,595 95,618 23as the tariff war heats up, soAlthoughimportsfromBiden administration officialsEVERGREEN LINE (EGLV) 99,676 87,472 14does the business risk, Chinaarestrong,thesameare heading to Shanghai thisOCEAN NETWORK EXPRESS PTE LTD (ONEY) 86,681 94,678 -8ORIENT OVERSEAS CONTAINER LINE LTD (OOLU) 79,271 78,856 1A related concern must becannot be said for exports.week for a high-level round ofMSC-MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY S A (MSCU) 75,164 56,947 32payment risk. The impositionIn2023USexportstomeetings under the auspices ofHAPAG LLOYD A G (HLCU) 39,217 42,178 -7ofheavytariffsbytheUSChinathroughJanuary-Junethe US-China Financial GroupZIM INTEGRATED SHIPPING SERVICES LTD (ZIMU) 33,220 62,993 -47wouldprobablyresultinwere around $72.655 billioncentered around finding someMAERSK LINE (MAEU) 28,842 9,022 220manycompaniessimplyandin2024thefigureiscommon ground in regard toYANG MING MARINE TRANSPORT CORP (YMLU) 24,870 31,032 -20failingtomeettheirdebtrunningat$70.757billion.theeconomicrelationshipofTotal 753,106 762,494 -1obligations,ortopayforDescartesDatamynereportsthe two superpowers. goods;andeffortstosecure restitution in mainland China would certainly prove tough. Inanextremescenario,the impositionofsanctionsby theUStreasuryonamajor Chinese bank could provoke a financial crisis.t heB oxB usInessWhile China has slipped to the number three position as a trading partner to the US (USMCApartnersMexico and Canada rank one and two respectively), when it goes to containerizedfreight,China isbyfarthenumberone trading partner.And despite the uncertainty or perhaps because of it, business with China is booming. On August 7th Descartes Datamynereleasedits AugustGlobalShipping ReportwhichnotedJuly 2024UScontainerimports hit a 26-month high, growing 11.2%to2,556,180twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Thisalsomarksthefirst timein22monthsthat volumeshavebeenabove the 2.4 million TEU level Among the key findings was U.S.importsfromChina set records: Imports reached 1,022,913TEUs;thisisa 14.7%increaseoverJune totalsanda19.9%increase overJuly2023.[See DescartesDatamynecharts for more details]Undoubtedly, some of this surge is related to US importers tryingtobuildinventories inadvanceoftariffsand apotentialstrikebythe International Longshoremens Association (ILA) on the East Coast. As Freightos noted in their August analysis, Some importerspulledforward shipmentsofgoodsfrom Chinafacingtariffincreases meant for August 1st. Just last week,though,theUSTrade Representativeannouncedit neededmoretimetoreview publiccommentsonthe'