Maersk Reports Increasing Demand From India as Hopes of U.S.-India Trade Deal Grow

By Dominic Chopping

A.P. Moller-Maersk is experiencing increased demand from India as expectations grow that a tariff deal with the U.S. will be reached.

Washington has slapped 50% tariffs on India's goods, with President Trump previously pointing to India's use of Russian oil as a reason for such high duties. However, he softened his stance last month, saying he would bring tariffs down at some point.

"They've stopped doing the Russian oil. It's been reduced very substantially," he told reporters at a November press conference in the Oval Office.

Shipping and logistics giant Maersk said in a customer advisory Wednesday that its MECL service--which connects India with the Middle East, North Africa and North America--is operating with consistent weekly departures and that demand is expected to rise further if a U.S.-India trade deal is reached.

ING's Deepali Bhargava said India's crude oil imports from Russia have declined meaningfully, while imports from the U.S. have surged, signaling a deliberate diversification of suppliers.

"We see a high probability of an India-U.S. trade deal emerging in 2026, which could strengthen the rupee and support foreign institutional investor inflows amid strong growth and supply chain resilience."

Maersk also used the customer advisory to note that it is closely monitoring developments around the Red Sea and Suez Canal following the Gaza ceasefire, though it currently has no specific timing to restart sailing through the Red Sea.

In the U.S. west coast, port activity is increasing, supported by current tariff conditions, it said. However, stricter enforcement of English language proficiency requirements and new commercial driver's license standards are causing a tightening of driver availability for local logistics networks that handle the short-distance transport of containers, it added.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 03, 2025 09:42 ET (14:42 GMT)