Donald Trump has driven a rush at China's container ports. With exporters keen to get ahead of announced US tariffs and potential future escalation, weekly shipping figures are showing that container throughput in 2025 has been significantly above the 2024 trend. Traffic especially picked up in April, when the US president announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs. (At the time of publication, the US and China had agreed to significantly reduce tariffs imposed just weeks before on each other's goods.)
