Big shippers are sounding the alarm on tariffs, sourcing shifts, and container contracts. In Episode 50 of The Freight Buyers’ Club, retail, tech and freight leaders share how they’re navigating 2025’s shipping storm.
Episode 50 of The Freight Buyers’ Club – produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group – marks a milestone: three heavyweight shipper representatives reveal how the world’s biggest retailers and technology companies are navigating today’s turbulent trade landscape.
Ken O’Brien, President of the Gemini Shippers Association, explains why his members “leaned on long-term contracts instead of chasing volatile spot rates” this year — and how tariff deadlines and Red Sea diversions shaped procurement. “The lesson from COVID,” he says, “was never bet against the American consumer.”
Jess Dankert, VP Supply Chain at RILA, admits that “holiday stockpiling started early,” with some retailers even landing Halloween goods in June. She also reveals that more than 70% of major retailers have “revised their 2025 inventory plans” to prioritise certain SKUs and hedge against tariff risk.
Ed Brzytwa, VP International Trade at CTA, highlights the policy storm: “Semiconductor tariffs could be 100%, 200% — even 300%. We just don’t know yet.” He also warns importers to “document your payments” as legal challenges to IEEPA tariffs head towards the Supreme Court. Potential refunds, he notes, could total $100 billion.
Topics covered include:
- How shippers are balancing spot vs. long-term contracts in 2025
- The impact of tariffs, transshipment rules, and trade wars on global supply chains
- Why retail and tech companies are rethinking their sourcing footprint
- The future of container shipping supply and demand
Whether you’re a BCO, forwarder, or just trying to make sense of the tariff-fuelled chaos in trade, this milestone episode offers rare insights direct from the people actually buying freight at scale.