TThe trade war that has been triggered by the new US government will have an impact on the flow of dry bulk trade. In his latest weekly report, Shipbroker Banchero Costa commented that “the new US government seems serious in its intention to trigger a trade war with many of the main trading partners of the country. The new tariff of 25% of President Donald Trump on imports from Mexico and Canada came into force on March 4, 2025, along with double the duties for Chinese goods to 20%. The 25% tariff in the EU reportedly was also considered by the American government. Both the Canadian and Chinese governments immediately announced the steps of retaliation for American exports. China announced 15% tariffs for chickens, wheat, corn and cotton, and 10% of tasks for soybeans, sorghum, pork, beef and dairy products among other agricultural products, starting next Monday, according to a statement published by the Ministry of Finance.
Source: Bancha Costa
Meanwhile, according to the Shipbroker report, “China also stopped imports of soybeans from three US entities: CHS Inc., Louis Dreyfus Grains Merchandising LLC and EGT LLC, Customs General Administration in Tuesday night’s notification. China also suspended imports of logs from the US, the government said in a separate statement, quoting pests found in shipping “.
“In an effort to measure the impact on the delivery of dry bulk from the upcoming trade war, it will be useful to have a picture of the current trading pattern from and to the US. In Jan-Des 2024, the total exports in the sea of the dry bulk commodity from the US reached 308.7 mln t. This includes 90.6 mln tons of coal, 83.6 mln t seeds, 42.8 mln t soybean and soybean food, 35.2 mln t petcoke, 12.8 mln t from forest products, 12.7 mln t fertilizer. China is the destination of 17.0%of dry bulk exports from the US, with the European Union accounted for 11.5%, Japan 9.3%, India 9.0%, Mexico 5.4%, Canada 5.3%, Brazil 5.2%. Therefore, China with the European Union, Canada, and Mexico together -the same contributed 39.2% of all exports of dry bulk in the US sea.
Source: Bancha Costa
In terms of dried bulk imports, the total released in the US in Jandec 2024 is 121.9 mln tons. This includes 21.3 mln for steel products, 16.1 mln cement, 13.7 mln fertilizer, 8.6 mln salt, 6.3 mln gypsum, 5.5 mln t iron ore. In terms of sources, 15.4% of imports to the US were sent from Brazil, 15.0% of Canada, 11.5% of the EU, 7.3% of Türkiye, 3.8% of Mexico. Therefore, Canada Plus Mexico and the European Union together contributed 30.3% of all dried bulk imports to the US “, Banchero Costa concluded.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News worldwide
