[Freight Weekly] A quick survey?

Plus: Walmart increasing prices, Jamie Dimon fears, China deal, uncertainty remains.

Author

Boxy
May 15, 2025

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Hi there,

Thank you very much for continuing to read Freight Weekly. As we announced last week, Boxy and the team are looking at new approaches to revamp our newsletter to remain competitive and actionable with insights that can help you and your business thrive. But since we are all dealing with uncertainty related to ongoing tariff negotiations and verbose claims from both Beijing and Washington, D.C., we need to work quickly to regain stable footing. That said, we are looking at ways that could help improve our newsletter — this includes more original reporting in addition to our analysis, shorter or longer emails, new branding, a more active presence on social media, or going a completely different way.

So, if you are so kind, please feel free to respond to the following survey questions. Your input will help us a lot moving forward. Thank you all again for your continued support.

Regards,

The Freight Weekly Team (Michael McGrady and Boxy)

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🥃🥃🥃QUICK SHOTS OF THE NEWS: A Real China Deal?🥃🥃🥃

China and the United States — trade deal? Sure, a “deal,” but a lot of uncertainty.

The retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) announced that it is raising prices on thousands of products. CFO John David Rainey explained that he believes tariffs are “still too high.”

Rainey said, “We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb.” This announcement also relates to lower duties on imports as a trade deal was reached with China, dropping tarrifs to 30 percent for 90 days.

President Donald Trump claimed that this was a product of the “Art of the Deal,” but the deal is still only for 90 days. That is uncertainty, verbatim. Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting firm KPMG US, told National Public Radio online that despite the deal with China being a positive development, it is still mixed and still a link to market uncertainty.

"This is the same thing where all of a sudden a lot of freight shipment fees went way up in the wake of the pandemic, which was an additional cost in addition to the tariffs," she said.

Jamie Dimon is still fearful of a recession. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) still thinks that recession fears are on the table, CNBC.com reports. Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mr. Dimon said, “If there’s a recession, I don’t know how big it will be or how long it will last. Hopefully, we’ll avoid it, but I wouldn’t take it off the table at this point.” Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist for the large bank, noted to clients that the recession outlook is “still elevated, not below 50 percent.” That is uncertainty, everyone.