Shipping giant CMA CGM SA is experiencing a sharp upswing in demand for freight transport out of China in a further signal that trade is rebounding after Beijing reached a temporary truce with the U.S. to lower tariffs. 

The world’s third-largest container line, controlled by billionaire Rodolphe Saadé and his family, said the surge started after a 90-day reduction in levies was announced May 12.

“Trade will restart on this route very, very vigorously in the coming weeks and months,” Chief Financial Officer Ramon Fernandez said May 16 during a presentation of first-quarter earnings, calling the agreement an “indisputably positive signal for maritime transport.”

The Marseille, France-based carrier suffered a roughly halving of freight bookings for China exports to the U.S. after the world’s two largest economies imposed triple-digit tariffs on each other’s goods, the CFO said. The revival in recent days has been of the same magnitude.

“There is most certainly going to be significant catching-up behavior,” he said. “No one really knows what’s going to happen after the 90 days so we can expect that whatever needs transporting will be transported during the first half” of this year, he said.

CMA CGM is grappling with the uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the related disruptions to seaborne trade. For much of this year, a slump in demand on transpacific routes helped depress spot container rates, though they’ve turned higher since the U.S.-China tariff reprieve was announced.

Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG have both indicated that they’re also handling higher activity this week. Shares of both companies, which joined forces in a vessel-sharing agreement in February, are on track for their strongest weekly gains of the year.

CMA CGM reported first-quarter profit of $1.12 billion compared with $785 million a year earlier, according to an earnings statement, indicating that upheavals in the global trading system have nonetheless proved lucrative. Shipping volumes rose 4.2% and sales increased 11.5%.

Attacks by Houthis on cargo ships sailing through the Red Sea, which closed the waterway to many companies and forced lengthy detours around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, have meant CMA CGM vessels pass through the area only periodically and under French or Italian military escort, Fernandez said.

“The Red Sea shipping disruptions observed throughout 2024 persist,” the company said.

U.S. and China Ties

In addition to tariffs, the Trump administration has proposed countering what it says is China’s maritime dominance. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative outlined a plan for fees on Chinese-built ships that transport traded goods. 

Fernandez said the U.S. measures are less disruptive than initially feared, noting that less than half of CMA CGM’s vessels were built in China. 

“We can organize our fleet so that ships built elsewhere will call at U.S. ports,” he said. “It’s manageable and we’ll adapt.”

Saade in March unveiled $20 billion in investment in the U.S. over four years, posing with Trump at the White House and saying 10,000 shipping and logistics jobs will be created.

In addition to its U.S. operations, which include a unit called American President Lines LLC that transports U.S. government and military cargo, CMA CGM has a long-term partnership with Chinese shipping companies.

CMA CGM, China’s Cosco Shipping, Taiwan’s Evergreen Line and Hong Kong-based OOCL last year extended their capacity-sharing agreement called the OCEAN Alliance to 2032.

On May 16, Fernandez said the Trump administration hasn’t inquired about the company’s alliance with China-affiliated carriers.

The Saadé family is worth $38.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.