Hong Kong shippers and trading groups have urged exporters not to dump shipments mid-voyage to avoid crushing tariffs by the White House, saying the “irrational” move would incur huge costs while tarnishing the reputation of the company involved and the country.
They made the calls on Thursday as the Post reported a case of a Chinese exporter abandoning goods on the water on the way to the US and surrendering containers to shipping companies.
Willy Lin Sun-mo, chairman of the Hong Kong Shippers’ Council, said he had not heard of similar cases involving local exporters, but he cautioned that such acts had severe consequences.
“This is highly irrational and irresponsible as dumping the goods at sea will mean the exporter will lose everything, including effort and money. Apart from losing the cargo, it will fail to claim insurance for failing to fulfil contractual obligations and risk being sued by the importer or potential customers for damages,” he said.
“The move will not only severely hurt its reputation and deter overseas buyers leading to diminishing orders, but also tarnish China’s trade reputation, which will be a lose-lose to everyone.”
US President Donald Trump clarified on Thursday that Chinese imports would be tariffed at 145 per cent, while implementing a 90-day pause that set levies at a “baseline” 10 per cent for most countries.
