Companies have begun to increase shipments to the United States from China after President Donald Trump stopped some of his tariffs in imports of that country, creating an increase in demand that could lead to bottlenecks of the supply chain in the coming months.
China’s load reserves increased almost 300% this week compared to the previous week, raising to the highest levels of the year, said Ben Tracy, vice president of strategic business development in Vizion, a company that produces container monitoring software. That occurred after Trump announced Monday that he was reducing the rate on Chinese imports for 90 days, while Washington and Beijing continue commercial conversations.
American companies arrested shipments and canceled orders last month, When Trump increased his tariffs on Chinese imports to more than 145%, so it is inacorde that many companies import their assets. While Chinese imports still face A 30%rate, companies seem to be taking advantage of the 90 -day break in the highest rates to catch up with delayed shipments and obtain as many products in the United States as they can at the relatively lower rate.
“During the past month, we saw a great fall in trans-pacific trade, especially from China, falling by 60% or more in terms of those volumes,” said Jessica Dankert, vice president of the supply chain of the Association of Leaders of the Retail Industry. “So, now that we have at least a relative certainty for the 90 -day window, we definitely hope to see that these volumes rise again.”
But despite the pause for some tariffs, companies do not expect a soft candle in the coming months.
In general, it can take about a month to travel from China to the United States, but an increase in demand and a limited numbers Of the ships, the port coupling space and the trucks to transport goods could add to several additional months of time, said Bryan Gross, PWC director who works in problems of the supply chain.
“There is only a certain amount of capacity in that pipe, it can only be expanded so far. There are only a certain amount of container ships. There are only a certain number of appointments in the ports to be able to consume that capacity,” he said. “That bubble of goods will begin to flow through the system, but is limited by the size of the pipe.”
This imbalance of supply and demand could also lead to higher shipping rates, which have already jumped in recent days.
Because a ship may take several months to travel to the United States and then return to China, an increase in ships that leave China in the next few days and weeks could lead to a shortage of container ships available this summer, which is the peak time for retailers to send their merchandise back to school and vacation.
“What can be a problem is that within two months, which would be the high season for retail trade, we may not have enough containers available in China to load, and not only containers, but there are not enough ships there,” Tracy said.
For other industries, it could already be too late to get the products in time for its high season. American fireworks importers stopped many of their shipments from China in April because they could not pay the highest tariff fees, said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association.
While China Tariffs remain a significant cost of 30%, companies have begun to resume shipments, he said. But it is likely to be too late for some to obtain their products in time for July 4, resulting in a shortage of certain products.
“Everyone is now fighting to try to take advantage of the 90 -day break. But those outputs, the reserves take time. It is not as if you had only launched a light switch and everything turns back on,” said Heckman. “Companies are making those arrangements, they will try to enter what they can, but some of that will probably come after July 4.”
There could also be consequences for next year, When the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence and the fireworks industry expected an increase in demand. Many fireworks companies arrested their production in China during April as a result of uncertainty around rates. While some have restarted that production, they have lost a valuable manufacturing time during a limited window when Chinese companies can produce fireworks for the US market, Heckman said.
Retailers also remain Concerned about the long -term impact that tariffs could have on their businesses while trying to plan for the coming months.
“Now that we have a window of a little more certainty for the immediate future, there is the ability to plan a little more and try to obtain some of the most critical goods in production and water and bring to the United States,” Dankert said. “But I think that looking in the long term, what the business and what the industry really needs is the feeling of stability and the type of certainty that advances to make those longer decisions around orders.”
