Minimal US exposure shields ICTSI from Trump’s tariffs

MANILA, Philippines — Logistics giant International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is largely insulated from the risk brought about by higher Trump tariffs due to its minimal exposure to US trade.

ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. yesterday downplayed the impact of new tariffs slapped by the US on its trading partners, including the Philippines, as ordered by President Donald Trump on April 2.

Since then, Trump has suspended the imposition of these tariffs for 90 days, except for China, to give way for negotiations as requested by trading allies.

This uncertainty may look troubling for the operations of a company reliant on trade like ICTSI, but Razon allayed fears of any business slowdown. He said only three percent of ICTSI’s volume is transacted with the US, mostly through Contecon Manzanillo in Mexico.

“Depending on how this settles down, there could be [opportunities], they may be not. Out of our total portfolio, trade with the US is only three percent,” Razon said.

Razon said Contecon Manzanillo, ICTSI’s terminal in Colima, Mexico, may be the harshest hit by Trump’s protectionist policies since Mexico is in his crosshairs.

Other than that, Razon assured stakeholders that ICTSI is diverse enough to weather any impact consequent to the trade conflict ignited by Washington.

“Since our operations are diverse, the only major impact that could be possible would be in our Manzanillo terminal in Mexico, so so far, it is a wait and see,” Razon said.

ICTSI is riding on a high following its banner performance last year. The company raised its profit by two thirds to $849.8 million in 2024, from $511.53 million in 2023, as revenue grew at a pace quicker than spending.

Further, ICTSI improved its free cash flow to $1.08 billion, putting it in a position where it could deploy resources for new projects. For 2025, the company has allocated $580 million for capital expenditures, bulk of which would go to new and ongoing projects.

In particular, ICTSI is building an $800-million terminal in Bauan, Batangas and the company is lining up capacity expansion for its Manila and Mindanao projects.

ICTSI is one of the biggest port operators in the 50,000 to 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units per year range and manages projects across six continents.