The global trade system has already started planning for potential Trump win, new China tariffs

Global logistics companies tell CNBC they have started the planning for a potential Trump win in November and the strategies that will be needed to mitigate any additional tariffs, with Mexico a key import gateway for any escalation in the trade war against China begun under Trump and continued during the Biden presidency.

The planning started after the former president said in February he was considering a plan to impose tariffs of 60% or higher on Chinese goods as well as a blanket 10% tariff on all U.S. imports in his potential second term.

In a CNBC "Squawk Box" appearance on Monday morning, Trump escalated his trade war rhetoric, saying "I'm a big believer in tariffs," and indicated that he's likely to implement more duties on foreign goods should he win election to a second term.

The Trump administration used delegated authorities under three trade laws to unilaterally levy tariffs without Congressional approval. The current range of the tariffs on a wide variety of U.S. imports today is between 10% and 25%.

Niki Frank, CEO OF DHL Asia, said in an interview last week at the TPM conference in Long Beach, California, that diversification of the supply chain away from China will ramp up if more tariffs are levied.

"I think it will accelerate the current movement of de-risking and diversifying away from China into other countries," Frank said. "A 60% tariff will make it more attractive to move to other places," he added. The Trump administration tariffs kickstarted a shift in supply chain strategy which, according to Frank, became more well-developed by customers during Covid, when they contemplated moving factories and production out of China.

He expects any increase in tariffs during a second Trump presidency to lead to a