Shaun Rampersad speaks on the Breakbulk Live Stage on tariffs and project risk, while Valier Technologies presents trade compliance platform MAWI AI on the Voices Stage

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago & HOUSTON: Ramps Logistics Chief Executive Officer Shaun Rampersad will join international trade and project cargo specialists on stage at Breakbulk Americas 2026, the largest event of its kind in the Americas, taking place September 22–23 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

On Wednesday, September 23, Rampersad joins "Planning in the Fog: Risk, Tariffs and the Cost of Resilience" on the Breakbulk Live Stage. In this audience-led panel, international specialists in trade, customs, procurement and project delivery take questions on delivering major projects through tariffs, trade restrictions and operational uncertainty.

When tariffs and trade rules change, the cost of moving the heavy equipment that energy and infrastructure projects depend on can change with them. The panel will discuss how companies keep major projects on track and on budget through that uncertainty, with Rampersad sharing the view of a Trinidad and Tobago company that has moved this kind of cargo between the Caribbean and the United States for four decades.

"The Caribbean has moved heavy, complicated cargo through Houston for decades," said Shaun Rampersad, Chief Executive Officer of Ramps Logistics. "What has changed is that trade rules now shape the cost of a project as much as the lift itself. Breakbulk is the right place to have that conversation, and we are glad to bring a Trinidad and Tobago perspective to it."

Trinidad and Tobago technology will also be on show. On the Breakbulk Voices Stage, Gerard Rique, Manager of Innovations and Solutions at Valier Technologies, will present MAWI AI, a trade compliance platform that classifies goods, calculates duty, determines export control classification and prepares filing documentation from a single set of shipping documents.

The session addresses a problem that has grown as U.S. trade policy has changed over the past eighteen months. For goods entering the United States, the choice between two valid tariff classifications can significantly change the duty payable. Many of those decisions are still made manually, one entry at a time, by customs brokers who carry the liability for getting them right. The audience of cargo owners, freight forwarders and U.S. customs brokers will hear what the platform delivers today and what is in development, including integration with U.S. Customs and Border Protection import filing.

This year marks MAWI AI's return to Breakbulk Americas after the platform was named a finalist for Best Logistics Strategy for an Energy Project at the 2025 Breakbulk Americas Awards. MAWI AI also won the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago's Innovation and Technology Challenge in February 2025.

"There is a lot of noise about AI in logistics," said Gerard Rique, Manager of Innovations and Solutions at Valier Technologies. "Our approach is to take one shipment, walk it through end to end, and let the people who file customs entries for a living judge the result. It says something about Trinidad and Tobago’s capability that this technology was built here and is being put in front of that audience.”

Rampersad and Rique are available for media interviews during Breakbulk Americas 2026 and by phone or video before the event.

Cargo owners, freight forwarders and customs brokers who would like to learn more about Ramps Logistics or see MAWI AI applied to their own entries can visit mawiai.com or email comms@rampslogistics.com.

About Ramps Logistics
Ramps Logistics is a global logistics and supply chain technology company founded in Trinidad in 1985. The company designs and deploys digital platforms, data-driven tools, and integrated logistics solutions that streamline freight, customs, and complex supply chain operations. By combining proprietary technology, industry expertise, and local insight, they help clients move cargo smarter, faster, and with greater visibility across the world.

About Valier Technologies
Valier Technologies is a Trinidad and Tobago technology company and the developer of MAWI AI, a trade compliance platform for cargo owners, freight forwarders and customs brokers. For more information, visit mawiai.com.

Fonte: Business Wire