Terrible timing and huge uncertainty: how ports and shipping are handling tariff turmoil

As they reel from Trump's policies, companies say volatile freight costs and congestion are now the norm

The container ship was halfway across the Atlantic when Donald Trump, during his first term in office, levied tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the US from most countries.

At the stroke of a pen on a US presidential executive order, about 100,000 was added to the cost of one of the shipments onboard, from the UK advanced materials manufacturer Goodfellow, destined for a US customer.