How shippers are trying to keep up with Trump’s trade war

In today’s episode of DecoderWe are talking about customs duties and commercial wars. One of the ways I was trying to sort the chaos at this moment is to talk to people behind the program that already runs our global trade systems.
We got a lot of notes from the listeners who really appreciate An episode with the subordinate Ivan SmithWhich put how to clarify its supply chain systems data as manufacturing was moving as globalization started to collapse. So I wanted today to return one of my favorite favorites Decoder Guests: Flexport Ryan Petersen, who runs his logistics program to transfer things all over the world, from the factory to the threshold of Dark.
Petsen was in Decoder Twice before, once in 2022 Then again in 2023. Check these episodes; They are great. What makes Petersen a great personality is that he is unique in that he runs a software company in Silicon Valley, but his product revolves around the real and very complex process of actually charging things on aircraft, boats and trucks. I have always enjoyed his point of view to connect the points between what is happening on the screen and what is happening in the real world. In the case of definitions, this means that Petersen has a view in the actual time on how its customers deal with them as the products reach the American ports and pass through the customs-Flexort is in itself a customs broker, so he directly runs the customs tariff process.
But nothing about Trump’s tariff is to work as usual, so I really wanted to move on how they actually work – at the highest level, the Trump administration apparently launched a game of chicken with the Chinese government that completely raises the securities market and places industries of all kinds in a state of frank panic. We can all see it, but on the ground, the systems still have to work, and the services must be moved across the ocean, and these customs duties must actually get the payment. You will hear that Petersen says that the customs tariff is already changing where things come, and shipments from Vietnam stop on Flexport from China for the first time last week.
What you will also hear is that Petersen has been mainly in the war over the past few weeks in an attempt to keep pace with all changes – Flexport has a craftsman Direct definitions blog For her customers just to try to keep the latest information outside the door. In fact, Trump’s definitions cannot be predicted to the point that when we sat on Monday, we knew that the numbers we are talking about would change by the time we published in this episode on Thursday. We were right – definitions on the sufferers from China in one way or another He went from 154 percent to 245 percentAnd Li -Eun batteries launched up to 173 percent.
So, instead of specific numbers, I and Petersen really focused on how this system works, how it is supposed to work, and how it works now, if it works at all. If you are following him on X, you know that he believes that things are separated by ways Only paralysis creates in the short term Perhaps bankruptcy is widely in the long run.
So I just asked him: Is there anything that anyone can do now to pressure the White House to make this logical in a schedule that saves the American economy from destruction? I will let you listen to his answer. Petsen, according to his appreciation, takes somewhat brave behavior here – he says he wants to give people responsible for suspicion and keep his calm so that he can continue to advise his customers. But I think you will hear how quickly patience runs out, and did not retreat when it comes to describing the types of frightening consequences that may occur if things continue to escalate at their current rate.
If you want to read more about what we talked about in this episode, check the links below:
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