Air cargo carriers are caught in crossfire of Trump-China trade war

Donald Trump’s intensifying trade war with China dented air cargo traffic even before FedEx Corp. got dragged into the brawl, as companies worldwide reconfigure their supply chains in the face of increasing tariffs. Global cargo demand fell 4.7% in April from a year earlier, according to the IATA, equaling a February drop that was the worst in three years, with the biggest declines coming from manufacturing hubs in Asia and Europe. Freight operators are bracing for more disruption as tensions between Washington and Beijing ratchet up, and trade experts warn that declining shipments – worsened by Brexit jitters and simmering tensions in the Middle East – indicate a slowdown in global growth. “If we see a further deterioration and tariff increases, there will be further damage to world trade,” IATA DG Alexandre de Juniac said. “It will clearly be a difficult year for world cargo.” The US in May raised tariffs on $200b of Chinese exports and blacklisted Huawei Technologies. After Trump said duties on Chinese goods “could go up very, very substantially,” China accused the US of seeking an “unequal trade deal” and said it would draw up a list of “unreliable entities” that could be targeted for retaliation. On Saturday, China said it would probe FedEx, after some Huawei packages were reportedly diverted to the US without authorization. Evidence of impact from the escalations is piling up. Story has more.<br/>