Import Cargo Levels to Remain High Ahead of Rising Tariffs

Aead of growing tariffs on China and threats against other countries, imports at the nation’s major container ports are expected to remain high according to the Global Port Tracker report released on Feb. 7 by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.“Supply chains are complex,” NRF vice president for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said, in a statement. “Retailers continue to engage in diversification efforts. Unfortunately, it takes significant time to move supply chains, even if you can find available capacity."While we support the need to address the fentanyl crisis at our borders, new tariffs on China and other countries will mean higher prices for American families. Retailers have engaged in mitigation strategies to minimize the potential impact of tariffs, including frontloading of some products, but that can lead to increased challenges because of added warehousing and related costs. We hope to resolve our outstanding border security issues as quickly as possible because there will be a significant impact on the economy if increased tariffs are maintained and expanded.”Retailers have been frontloading imports of key products for several months because of the potential for the East Coast/Gulf Coast port strike in January as well as to get ahead of potential tariffs from President Donald Trump. Feb. 1 , Trump announced tariffs of 25% on most goods from Canada and Mexico and 10% on goods from China. The Canadian and Mexican tariffs were suspended on Monday for 30 days, but the China tariffs took effect on Feb. 4.Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said tariffs on Canada and Mexico would initially have minimal impact at ports because