Customs duties: Race against time in Europe to export to the United States
Some European companies are rushing to export their products across the Atlantic for fear of additional surcharges. We report from the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/17/customs-duties-race-against-time-in-europe-to-export-to-the-united-states
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Some European companies are rushing to export their products across the Atlantic for fear of additional surcharges. We report from the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/04/17/customs-duties-race-against-time-in-europe-to-export-to-the-united-states
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00In a race against time, some European companies are rushing to export their goods to the United
00:11States, fearing a further increase in American customs duties.
00:17Container exports via the port of Antwerp to the U.S. rose by 3% in the first quarter,
00:23compared with the first quarter of 2024. On closer examination, two of the sectors
00:28most affected by the U.S. tariff hikes saw their exports to the U.S. rise slightly.
00:34In the first quarter, European steel exports rose by 2% and vehicle exports by 1%,
00:40compared with the same period last year. Faced with Donald Trump's unpredictable changes,
00:45of course, European exporters seem to be sailing close to the wind.
00:49We see that some companies are anticipating on these tariffs and have decided to export
00:55their goods before the tariffs were imposed. But if we look in general from a port perspective,
01:04if we look at all the different segments and categories, that impact is rather limited.
01:08As Europe's second largest port after Rotterdam,
01:11Antwerp is one of Europe's gateways to and from the rest of the world.
01:15The United States is its second largest trading partner after the U.K.,
01:20with almost 28 million tons of goods traded last year.
01:25Port management is keeping a close eye on future developments in customs duties and geopolitical
01:30tensions, which could affect logistics chains.
01:33Well, currently it's a bit too soon to tell if the Chinese will use Europe as an export market
01:41instead of the U.S., but that's definitely something that we're monitoring,
01:44and it's definitely a possibility. We've seen that in the past that has happened.
01:49For its part, the World Trade Organization has reduced its outlook for world trade.
01:54It warns that the trade war between the U.S. and China is likely to slow trade and growth in the long term.