When the Trump administration slapped 145% tariffs on China, the shipping and logistics industries slowed to a trickle.
Now they’re dealing with the opposite problem: a surge.
The administration’s decision to “pause” the steep tariffs for 90 days has left companies rushing to get orders in before the window closes.
Insiders say the threat now is clogged ports, delays and sky-high shipping and trucking rates.
“The only risk that you could see is as you get into June and July there being a flood of goods, a ton of containers coming in, and there not being enough capacity to execute it,” said Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain at ITS Logistics. “And then what happens?”
Since Covid, ports have gotten better at managing traffic, but the supply chain industry is still anticipating bottlenecks and capacity crunches, especially in trucking.
The whole up and down is giving the industry a case of whiplash. Trucking was just emerging from a three-year freight recession brought on by the pandemic. Then President Donald Trump announced the tariffs.
If the two sides are unable to reach some kind of deal in the next 90 days, or if the resulting tariffs are still too high for companies to stomach, the industry could face layoffs.
“I mean, 80% of truck drivers voted for Donald Trump in our surveys,” said Craig Fuller, CEO of FreightWaves, an industry news and data provider. “And they’re the ones that are probably most vulnerable in this trade war.”
Watch the video to learn more.
