Global container volumes will fall for only the third time in nearly five decades, according to respected maritime research firm Drewry, whose analysts say the Trump administration’s trade tariffs have caused more disruption to shipping businesses than the pandemic.

“The outlook for container shipping is even more uncertain now than it was at the onset of the COVID virus,” said Simon Heaney, Drewry’s senior manager of container research, warning the firm’s outlook for global volumes had become more pessimistic over the past month.