12 March 2025

Uncertainty with tariffs, causes carriers to shift away from Transpacific routes

Uncertainty regarding USA tarrifs on low-value ecommerce from China, is already affecting Transpacific capacity.

With the low-demand period characteristic of the Chinese New Year in the past, it is now possible to see that the weekly capacity on transpacific routes has decreased by 5%. This seemingly low percentage, equates to 4 thousand tonnes of capacity or in other words, 39 full B777-200 freighters weekly. Despite this drop, ex-APAC capacity still saw a growth of 1.3%, with European, Middle Eastern and Asian markets showing significant growth.