News / The right customs plan will be a gamechanger, Maersk warns shippers

ID 206285485 © Siwakorn Klomwinyarn

As the ‘Liberation Day’ tariff reassessment looms, Maersk has urged shippers and forwarders to pay close attention to their customs procedures to avoid overpayment or non-compliance.  

According to ocean carrier Maersk’s container-weighted effective average tariff metric, companies are currently paying an effective average tariff duty of some 21% relative to container loads on all US imports. This is just under half of what the tariffs were at their peak, shortly after 2nd April, when the average effective rate was 54%. The change was largely due to the pause in ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and reduction on US tariffs on China.

However, with the deadline for a ‘reciprocal tariff’ assessment on 9 July fast approaching, the following week is expected to bring news of trade deals and resulting tariff levels from the US on up to 90 countries.  

Yesterday, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the US had agreed a 20% tariff on all Vietnamese exports to the US and a 40% tariff “on any transhipping”. 

What is classified as ‘transhipping’ is yet to be clarified. DSV director of customs and trade services, Pete Mento, said: “This will likely indicate an increase in inspection of Vietnamese goods exported to the US. 

“With better targeting systems and a focus on cracking down on transhipment, it’s extremely important that you reach out to your vendors in Vietnam and let them know their goods will likely be under additional scrutiny,” Mr Mento urged.  

Trump also stated that Vietnam would allow US goods to be imported duty-free, but details of this deal have not yet been made official by a White House Executive Order. 

In its Global Market Update, Maersk asked shippers to ensure they have a customs plan in place.  

“In certain supply chains, such as the automotive sector, goods and parts can cross borders five to six times during the manufacturing process,” it said.  

“This means that the right customs plan can be a gamechanger for both efficiency and price, while failing to properly prepare for customs is adding unnecessary stumbling blocks.” 

According to the Danish carrier, some 20% of all delays at borders are caused by “insufficient customs preparation”, and most companies end up overpaying tariffs by an average 5-6%, “because they lack a centralised approach and overview of their customs duties”. 

Maersk’s global head of trade & customs consulting, Lars Karlsson, told The Loadstar: “Customs have been kind of segmented, decentralised, very much local, because that’s how trade used to be. So, that means that it hasn’t been as strategic.” 

Mr Karlsson explained that companies have, in the past, paid little attention to their customs processes as global trade became easier and tariff levels lowered.  

However, he added that “with international trading companies today, it’s an enormous part of what they do” as duties rise and many countries introduce strict due diligence requirements.  

“We have clients today in North America, for instance, that pay maybe $100-200m more a year because of the tariff increases,” he said. 

For example, incorrect classification codes mean companies would not only pay incorrect taxes and duties, but these codes also identify what regulations, handling and data requirements are applicable.  

“So, you could actually be non-compliant with risks that are involved, if you export to a market and you don’t fulfil the legislation or regulations there,” he urged, and noted that non-compliance to applicable duties can lead to fines or being denied access to a market. 

Using the incorrect customs classification code could also mean you end up paying duties for products that have a higher tariff rate than the product you are actually shipping – for instance steel and aluminium products.  

“You need to be in control of the process. You need to have systems and data or find a partner to help. 

“By doing this, you might also find you’re overpaying already. So even if tariffs are going up, you actually paid more before because you were paying too much,” said Mr Karlsson.