“That time, for the rest of my life, is going to be absolutely etched into my memory,” said Christopher Berschel, president of Sealion Cargo, a Canadian freight forwarding business.
US President Donald Trump had just unveiled an unexpectedly punitive reciprocal tariff plan, slapping duties of 36%, 32% and 24% on Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, respectively. All three have become hubs for the assembly and distribution of crypto mining machines. US-based buyers of these so-called “rigs” faced a major financial hit – unless Berschel and his crew could get them out by the April 9 cutoff.
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In the frenzy that ensued, Sealion helped charter five aircraft while overseeing dozens of trucks and barges to ship $330 million worth of equipment from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to the US.“With over $80 million in potential tariff exposure at stake, every flight, truck, and pallet we touched had one mission: beat the tariff clock,” Berschel said.
Then, on April 9, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the higher tariffs set to hit dozens of trading partners, rendering the entire episode somewhat pointless, albeit costly. Miners spent as much as four times what they typically might on airfreight and perhaps twenty times the cost of ocean shipping, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the costs are confidential.What ultimately turned out to be an unnecessary race to beat the tariff deadline underscores how challenging – and expensive – it’s become for American companies to rework their global supply chains.
