Ryan Peterson
Appearances
Pivot
Elon Steps Back from DOGE, Wall Street Whiplash, and Meta’s Antitrust Trial Continues
This week on Profiteer Markets, we speak with Ryan Peterson, founder and CEO of Flexport, a leader in global supply chain management. We discuss how tariffs are actually impacting businesses, and we get Ryan's take on the likely outcomes of this ongoing trade war.
Pivot
Elon Steps Back from DOGE, Wall Street Whiplash, and Meta’s Antitrust Trial Continues
You can find that conversation exclusively on the Prof G Markets podcast.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Oh, you'd be surprised. They're like as fast as a speedboat.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
I mean, you're going like 18 knots or something.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
In fact, in the United States alone, there are 43 government agencies that take an interest in imported products of some kind.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Fish and wildlife. Well, for the couch, it's going to be, who does the fumigation certificates? If it's made of wood, you have to show that it's not infected with bugs.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
If you look at a map of the world's ships, a lot of them are sitting idle off the coast of China, sitting there empty, waiting for their next orders because they were supposed to sail to the United States and that sailing got canceled.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Tugboats, yeah. You don't need to see those. So just the green ones are the cargo vessels.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
They'll always turn to a circle when they're at the port because they're not moving. But if they're in the ocean and they're a circle, that's odd behavior. They're idling for no reason.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
You see all those circles that aren't moving? Those are all just ships waiting. They've been canceled for their sailing.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
A lot of them actually were repositioned to sail to Europe or sail Vietnam to the U.S.,
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Shipping components from China to another country. assembling those through a process that's called substantial transformation, which means you transform it to now it's a made in Vietnam product. Perfectly legal.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
And then it ships from Vietnam to the U.S. So from a logistics standpoint, you just ship the same thing twice. Once from China to Vietnam and then once from Vietnam.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Yeah. And then the ship will give you a tracking link so you can just follow it as it stops in multiple places across the world.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Oh, I got bad news for her if you're listening. Uh-oh. The ship had to depart by April 9th.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
So the ship had to depart. She's going to have to pay it.
Today, Explained
Retire? In this economy?!
If they don't change anything and this 145% duty sticks on China, it'll take out like mass bankruptcies. We're talking like 80% of small business that buys from China will just die. And millions of employees will go, you know, we'll be unemployed. I mean, it's sort of why I'm like, they obviously have to back off the trade. Like, that can't be that they just do that.