A return to the 25% duty rate on U.S. automotive exports to China is set to enter into effect on December 15th, and U.S. auto-makers are worried about the effects. Overseas sales of U.S.-made cars have yet to recover after last year’s tariff cut shipments to China by...
The Top U.S. Trade Partner is Now Mexico
Mexico, steadily rising in rank to No. 12 among exporting nations, has eclipsed China and Canada to become the U.S.’s leading trade partner. Mexico is now the top U.S. trade partner, ranked by total value of import and export trade, according to Descartes...
Easter Sunday: A Record High First Quarter Chocolate & Candy Imports
Despite some of the most popular confections being produced in the United States, the imports of chocolates and candy still represent nearly $9 billion in value annually. For confection imports as well as the raw materials to produce them (HS 17 and 18), the first...
U.S. to End GSP Eligibility for India and Turkey
The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced an end to Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) eligibility for India and Turkey after finding the countries no longer meet the conditions for getting duty-free access to U.S. markets as developing...
Trade War Reshapes U.S. Import Peak Shipping
Waves of new tariffs lifted U.S. waterborne import peak shipping volumes earlier and higher than ever in 2018, while the promise of more to come pushed an atypical December surge. U.S. import peak shipping volumes charted a new course in 2018, driven largely by...
Hot Pursuit: Competition for EV Battery Metals Revs Up
A global scramble is on to secure supplies of EV battery metals – the cobalt, graphite and lithium – that go into the batteries that make electric vehicles go. The global market’s growing embrace of electric vehicles is driving demand, and sparking volatility...
Truce Called in U.S.-China Trade War
A 90-day truce has been declared in the escalating trade hostilities between the U.S. and China after a sidebar meeting at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The U.S. has agreed to postpone for 90 days a tariff hike from 10% to 25% on...
U.S. Electronics Imports and Exports: Market Trends and Analysis
As the impact of shifting trade policy on the electronics sector remains to be fully seen, Descartes Datamyne has released it’s quarterly commodity report that contains detailed import and export data that shows the early effect of tariff changes. In the first half of...
U.S. and Canada’s Ongoing Lumber Dispute
Since 1982, the softwood lumber market has been a hot topic between the United States and Canada. Both countries are heavy producers with the United States producing an average of 2.9 billion board ft. (bbf) per month and Canadian sawmill’s producing 2.37 bbf/month....
Web Seminar: Top Supply Chain Disruptions and How to Minimize Risk
Join us for a Web Seminar, October 25, 2pm ET When major disruptions occur, some supply chains break down and take a long time to recover. From tariffs, to trade policy shifts, to natural disasters, businesses do not need to be a “deer in the headlights” when changes...