The shipping industry is breathing a sigh of relief as global trade wars come in like a lion but in practice may prove to be more like a lamb.

Months of heated rhetoric about the US trade deficits finally gave way to actual measures as US President Donald Trump enacted a round of tariffs aimed at addressing those deficits.

The first bunch in early March imposed a 25% tariff on the value of steel imports and a 10% tariff on the value of aluminum imports.