It would be fair to say that, so far, 2025 is proving to be quite an eventful year for shipping, starting off with the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) announcement of a proposed multi-pronged strategy to counter Chinese maritime dominance. This sparked significant debate with some arguing it is the most consequential development in maritime trade for decades, if not a century. Whether this is true or not it has created, or at least contributed to, a climate of uncertainty. Following this, President Trump introduced a series of import taxes on goods, arguing that tariffs will boost American manufacturing and protect jobs. This led to further discussions about potential trade wars and their implications for the US economy, global trade and the global economy. The deadline for trade talks has been extended to 1 August, with President Trump describing it as “firm but not 100% firm,” adding to the ambiguity surrounding their potential impact. Interestingly, BIMCO’s President’s Forum findings published in April highlighted “Uncertainty – the new normal” as a key theme. BIMCO members predicted that “cost of labour, trade protectionism and industry consolidation” would significantly impact shipping over the next two years. Hans-Christian Olesen, CEO of Ultrabulk, questioned whether globalisation is a thing of the past or the future, emphasising that trade wars are detrimental to our industry. You can find the full report of the President’s Forum here. It’s evident that members were already aware of the potential threat of tariffs at the end of 2024, even if not explicitly. While the developments in 2025 around protectionism and tariffs may not have been a huge surprise to many, they are no less significant. When we celebrated BIMCO’s 120th anniversary in May, our newly-elected President Paul Pathy spoke about the resilience of shipping. He referenced the industry’s ability to survive two global pandemics, two world wars and numerous conflicts, economic crises an