News / De minimis change would be 'no bad thing' for logistics operators

© Nunthana Setila

Logistics suppliers appear increasingly unfazed by the chaos emanating out of the White House and the looming crackdown in not only the US but Europe on de minimis exemptions.

Responding to a question from The Loadstar at an event marking the launch of Maersk’s latest dual-fuel vessel, Adrian Maersk, Maersk North America MD Ole Trumpfheller, said that it was all about being able to “constantly adapt” at the moment.

Mr Trumpfheller added: “There are constant changes, and you just have to adapt to them, we have the capacity to do this.”

While he would not be drawn on whether it presented opportunities for the carrier – although he emphasised Maersk was an integrator rather than a shipping line – DHL’s life sciences and healthcare VP for EMEA, Ilhami Arslanoglu, was more willing.

Speaking to The Loadstar on the sidelines of an event marking the launch of DHL’s Global Trade Atlas report, Mr Arslanoglu said any de minimis changes would be “no bad thing”.

“For us, it all comes down to a question of whether we perform customs duties or not; so, from a logistics operational perspective, it is really not that bad a thing for us – of course, what matters would be if it impacted trade or not,” he continued.

“But I also think the economies [being targeted by the changes, namely, China] are far more flexible than those in Europe or the US.”

That flexibility has already made itself known, with Shein having signed several agreements that will shift garment manufacturing out of China and into Turkey, while the company has also located the headquarters for its international operations in Singapore.

Both Mr Arslanoglu and Mr Trumpfheller believe the situation would be okay for DHL and Maersk, with the latter noting “we’re very close to market developments”.

Mr Trumpfheller added: “We are able to follow these developments and then in turn follow suit with changes to keep trade flowing. It is sad to say but it is now very much a fact that building business continuity plans is a day-to-day pursuit for logistics companies.”