This week on News in Brief, we unpack the latest wave of US tariffs on Canada and Brazil and what they mean for global supply chains. Gavin van Marle explains why transpacific shipping is entering uncharted territory, explores the latest developments in ports and terminal operators - from Santos to the Panama Canal - and examines how carriers are keeping rates resilient despite ongoing overcapacity concerns.<br><br>We also speak to Neutral Air Partner CEO Christos Spyrou about the changing dynamics of air freight contracts, the growing influence of SME forwarders and the impact of US tariffs on air cargo.<br><br>All this and more in less than 25 minutes!


                    News in Brief Podcast | Week 30 2026 | Transpac, terminals and air cargo contracts
                

The Loadstar

Hello and welcome to the Loadstar podcast News in Brief, where as always, with the help of my guests, I'm going to be rounding up last week's supply chain news in both air and sea. And coming up in this episode, we are going to be looking at the latest tariff announcements and what this is doing to the trans-Pacific trade in both air freight and sea freight. We're going to be taking a look at recent rate movements and the growing role of SME forwarders in air cargo, plus much, much more.

My first guest for this episode is a returning favourite for the News in Brief Podcast. I'm joined by the Loadstar Managing Editor, Gavin van Marle. Hi, Gav, how are you? Hello, Charlotte, how are you? I'm all right, thank you. How are you? Yeah, not bad, not bad. Good, right, we will get into the news from the week. So, to start the episode, we had a few bits of tariff news out of the White House. Firstly, President Donald Trump placed an additional 50% tariffs on hundreds of Canadian products, which is likely to be felt most across the US-Canada road freight network.

Plus, there was the 25% tariff on Brazil that came into effect this week. Gav, you took a bit of a deep dive into the US this week, in particular, the sales to inventory ratio and what is happening with rates and capacity on the trans-Pacific trade. So, what is the latest here?

Start with inventory. So, according to the latest US Census Bureau data, there's been a rise across the three sectors covered, which is manufacturing, wholesale and retail. And in each of those sectors, inventories have been replenished over the last few weeks or months.

News in Brief Podcast | Week 30 2026 | Transpac, terminals and air cargo contracts

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

News in Brief Podcast | Week 30 2026 | Transpac, terminals and air cargo contracts

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.