Wakool Weekly News

On 12 July 2025 President Trump detonated the next stage of the trade war, slapping 30 percent tariffs on every good entering the United States from the European Union and Mexico and confirming a 50 percent duty on all copper imports, effective 1 August. The surprise move—announced just as annual customs revenues topped an unprecedented $100 billion—threatens to up-end the USMCA, fracture trans-Atlantic supply chains, and super-charge inflation at home.

Between June 24 and July 3, 2025, global logistics entered a new phase of “permanent volatility.” With President Trump holding firm on the July 9 tariff deadline, Vietnam clinched a last-minute exemption while Europe and Japan scramble to avoid 25–50 percent duties. Trans-Pacific spot rates whipsawed as shippers front-loaded cargo, port strikes in Sweden pushed global on-time arrivals below 60 percent, and congestion fees soared.

In the final week of June, global logistics was hit by a triple shock: trans-Pacific spot rates fell more than 20 %, China-Europe trains hit the 110,000-service milestone, and MSC moved to acquire Romania’s Mangalia yard to lock in European shipbuilding capacity. With global port congestion touching 96 % and U.S.–China tariffs frozen at a steep 55 %, the industry now faces a “high-cost, highly diversified” supply-chain era for the rest of 2025.

Discover how the current global trade disruptions are impacting the logistics industry and learn effective strategies for navigating the cha