Within a week, average spot freight rates for container shipping between China and the United States rose sharply, with a peak increase of 19 percent on the Shanghai to New York route, climbing from 3,646 to 4,350 US dollars per forty-foot equivalent unit, according to the World Container Index published by Drewry on 15 May. A slightly smaller increase was recorded on the Shanghai to Los Angeles route, which rose by 16 percent, with rates jumping from 2,713 to 3,136 dollars. In contrast, rates from Los Angeles to Shanghai remained stable, increasing by just three dollars to 709 per feu. This spike came shortly after Trump announced a partial rollback of tariffs on Chinese imports and a ninety-day truce. It may be another sign that importers are rushing to stock up on Chinese goods during this limited window.
The idea that tariffs are pushing up container freight rates between China and the US is also supported by the weekly trends in rates to and from Europe, which have remained stable on both the Chinese and American sides. Spot rates from Shanghai to Genoa and Rotterdam even fell slightly, by one percent in both cases, reaching 2,742 dollars per feu for the Ligurian port and 2,035 for the Dutch one. In the opposite direction, from Rotterdam to Shanghai, rates were unchanged from the previous week, holding steady at 457 dollars.
Small fluctuations were also recorded on transatlantic routes, where the rate for shipping a container from Rotterdam to New York fell by one percent to 1,961 dollars per feu, while the rate in the opposite direction rose by the same margin, reaching 824 dollars. Drewry believes that freight rates between China and the United States will continue to rise in the coming weeks due to capacity shortages caused by increased transport demand.
