Public policy, private investment, and technological advances are making electric vehicles (EV) a practical alternative for more car owners. While the market is bullish on accelerating EV sales, there are worries, global trade data shows, about assuring supplies of...
Global Trade Trend: Holiday Peak Season Import Volumes Set to Break Records
Global trade trends show that U.S. imports surged in the run-up to the holidays. But after nine months of pandemic shut-downs, following on a year of trade dampening tariffs, the fall’s record volumes are largely making up for the losses in the spring. 2020’s year-end...
Alcohol Imports – Ongoing Impact from COVID-19
U.S. Alcohol Imports – By Volume Heavily impacted by COVID-19 during the first half of 2020, imports of wine and spirits under chapter 22 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) continue to lag behind 2019. According to the latest available trade data from Descartes...
Industry Trends: COVID-19 and the U.S. Dependence on Pharmaceutical Imports
Pharmaceutical imports and imports of chemicals under Section VI of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) are likely to be one of the sectors most notably impacted by the coronavirus pandemic over the next several years. The commonly held belief is that Covid-19 has...
COVID-19: Global Trade Braces for Epochal Change
Last year closed with a Phase One agreement to “reset the relationship” between the U.S. and China. Roughly the same time, the first cases of the novel coronavirus were presenting themselves in Wuhan. The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on global markets will dwarf the...
Automotive Sector Bracing for Long-Term Impact of COVID-19
Sophisticated and globally connected supply chains have made the movement of goods more efficient and accessible but, at the same time, susceptible to economic crisis and natural disasters such as the financial crisis in 2008 and the Asian Tsunami in 2011. While many...
Coronavirus Stress Tests Supply Chains and Slows Trade Flow
Companies in diverse sectors, including consumer electronics, automobiles and automotive parts, pharmaceuticals, and apparel are warning they are mere weeks away from running out of production-critical supplies as Chinese factories shut down and cross-border commerce...
USMCA Retools the North American Trade Bloc for the 2020s
Approved by Congress and signed by President Trump on January 29, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement is one big step closer to entering into force. Mexico was first to ratify the trade pact on June 19, 2019. Canada’s House of Commons will be taking up the USMCA this...
U.S.-China Phase One Agreement Focuses on Relationship Reset
President Donald Trump and China’s Vice Premier Liu He have signed an initial agreement that commits China to policy changes on intellectual property (IP), technology transfer, financial services, and currency management. China also promises substantial purchases of...
Trade Policy Shifts Flatten U.S. Import Peak Shipping
U.S. tariffs on imports from China consigned the traditional peak shipping season to the ghosts of Christmases past this year. The U.S.-China trade war pushed the U.S. import shipping volume trend line for 2019 to an early peak in July before driving TEUs [20-foot...