LOGISTICS: US importers say tariff pause brings new deadline, not relief – survey

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on all imports from China provided importers with a new deadline, but not much relief, according to a survey of more than 100 small-to-midsized businesses.

Conducted by online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos between 14-17 May, respondents to the survey said the pause has done little to ease their concerns.

Small importers remain deeply anxious, are shifting behavior – including changing shipment timing or even considering winding down businesses – and are starting to adapt for the long term.

“While some are assessing domestic manufacturing, very few actually have,” Freightos said when noting key takeaways from the survey.

“Meanwhile, delays in shipments as a result of tariffs led to significant gaps that importers are struggling to fill,” Freightos said.

Other findings include:

• 31% of respondents are more concerned now than in April; 48% are equally as concerned; 20% less concerned
• 42% of importers rated the degree to which their business was disrupted as a full 10/10 disruption score, with an average rating of 7.5/10; down from April, when a full 60% of importers rated their degree of disruption as a 10/10

Some respondents said that they were unable to import goods as the 30% tariffs were still too high for small businesses, that expenses shot up leaving importers upside down on some deals, and that they see no way to plan ahead amid what seemed like daily changes and confusion.

ADAPTING
Respondents said they have found ways to adapt to the changing environment, including:

• 47% paused shipments and are now increasing imports following the reprieve’s implementation
• 15% changed suppliers as a result of the changes
• 7% decreased imports as a whole

Since many businesses delayed shipments in April and are now urgently shipping to restock, there is increased potential of bullwhip effects that lead to persistent disruptions regardless of tariff changes going forward, Freightos said.

DOMESTIC SOURCING
While one of the stated goals of the tariffs was to change US sourcing patterns, changes remain minimal – 30% of businesses are considering it and only 6% have actually done so, the survey showed.

The slight shift in sourcing patterns and the pauses in ordering from China likely contributed to reduced traffic at the West Coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California (MESC), said the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are seeing fewer arrivals than normal.

Only 92 container ships arrived in Los Angeles and Long Beach between 1-19 May, whereas 108 would be normal, Louttit said. He also noted about 40 container ship blank sailings that will skip Los Angeles or Long Beach through 5 July.

Blank sailings are when an ocean carrier cancels or skips a scheduled port call or region in the middle of a fixed rotation, typically to reduce capacity to support freight rates.

Container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are shipped in pellets. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is also shipped in containers.

They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks.

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