Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen’s high-stakes test amid tariff turmoil: ‘You can’t be freaking out’

At 11 a.m. in California last Thursday, the day after President Donald Trump declared sweeping new tariffs under what he dubbed “Liberation Day,” Ryan Petersen was live on camera, fielding questions from a virtual room packed with more than 2,300 anxious customers. The founder and CEO of Flexport, a now 12-year-old global logistics and customs brokerage firm, had spent the previous night studying the fine print himself, preparing to explain a dizzying new reality for U.S. importers. “We broke our livestreaming platform,” Petersen said half-jokingly that night at TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event in San Francisco. “We need to get a better one.” In less than 24 hours, the world of global trade was turned upside down — and it remains. Cumulative tariffs as high as 79% will soon be applied to a range of products from China, including sofas. Direct-to-consumer shipping models, once protected by the under-$800 duty-free de minimis threshold, are now subject to new customs obligations. Meanwhil ... Read full article.