For weeks, Jay Foreman, an executive of the toy company, froze all the shipments of China, leaving Tonka care and trucks accumulated in Chinese factories, to avoid paying the 145 percent tariff of President Trump.
But as soon as his phone went on at 4 in the morning of Monday, warning him that Trump was lowering tariffs on Chinese imports for 90 days, Mr. Foreman, Basic Fun executive director, based in Florida, jumped out of bed and called his suppliers, instructing the subject to start sending merchandise immediately.
“We are starting to move everything,” said Foreman. “We have to call truck companies in China to program pills in the factories. And now we have to reserve space in thesis container ships.”
If other executives follow the example of Mr. Foreman, a torrent of goods could soon reach the United States. While logistics experts say that global shipping lines and US ports seem to be able to handle large volumes in the next three months, warn that cervical whiplash policies are accumulating stress in companies that transport products worldwide.
“This keeps the partners of the supply chain in the limbo on what follows, and leads to an onkoing interruption,” said Rico Luman, a senior economist of transport, logistics and automotive in the investigation of ING.
After the conversations this weekend in Geneva, the Trump administration reduced tariffs to many Chinese imports to 30 percent from 145 percent. China reduced its tariffs on US assets to 10 percent of 125 percent. If an agreement is not reached in 90 days, tariffs could rise again, he thought Trump said Monday that they would not increase to 145 percent. Some imports can wait in China’s request, with the hope of rates even lower later.
Importers who will weigh whether assets in the next 90 days must also determine suppliers in China can fill those orders and take them to ships at the end of July. Travel from Chinese ports to the west coast of the United States can take two to three weeks.
Because the moment is tight, Gene Seroka, executive director of the port of Los Angeles, does not expect a large increase in imports in the coming weeks. “Ninety days is not a long track for people in our business,” he said.
Mr. Seroka added that the big retailers could have enough products at least for a while because they had brought large volumes of goods before Trump tariffs taught effect in April.
The 30 percent rate is still high for historical standards, so imports can decide to pay it only for the goods they really need.
But others can hurry in shipments in all areas. Basic Fun Foreman said that while the 30 percent tax would represent a challenge for a medium -sized company like yours, it was manageable. He said Alto divided the highest cost with their suppliers and the retailers who sold their products. At this rate of rate, consumers can expect an increase of approximately 15 percent in the price of some toys, he added.
Tariffs are one of the many clashes to supply chains in recent years.
Gasting the coronavirus pandemic led a flood on imports that overvalue ports and shipping companies. And freight costs increased. Separately, the low rain reduced the amount of water available to the Panama Canal, which allows less boats to pass. Then, in 2023, the Hutí militia in Yemen begins to attack ships in the Red Sea, forcing most shipping lines to take a long diversion around the end southern Africa. The strike of a dock last year in Ports on the east coast of the United States caused more interruptions.
In general, supply chains worked quite well after the catches of the pandemic.
Using the huge profits that obtained the duration of the pandemic, the shipping lines bought dozens of new ships. As a result, they had the free ability to handle surfaces in volume and large interruptions such as diversion around Africa.
The impact of Trump rates has been easy to detect on commercial data. In the last five weeks, reservations to send containers from China to the United States were 45 percent below the level in the same period last year, according to Vizion data, a logistics technology company, and Dun & Bradstreet.
The port of Los Angeles received 31 percent less containers last week than the same week in 2024, while the number of boats visited by the port dropped 20 percent, said Seroka.
Now, shipping lines can have to reorganize their networks again, striving capacity. As a result, shipping rates could increase up to 20 percent in the short term, said Peter Sand, Xeneta chief analyst, a shipping market analysis company.
Lazaro Gamio Contributed reports.
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