Tariffs, port fees, and cargo theft are among the current threats to the global supply chain, and U.S. companies are concerned. In fact, 83% of business executives believe supply chain resilience is as critical as cybersecurity, according to a new Cleo survey.
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The Trump administration’s proposal to charge China-built vessels more than $1.5 million per call at U.S. ports was blasted as an “apocalypse for trade” during an Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) hearing, according to reporting by The Loadster.
World Shipping Council CEO Joe Kramek said the huge fees would “result in increased costs for U.S. exporters and consumers as well as supply chain inefficiencies, while failing to provide China with effective incentives to alter its acts, policies, and practices.”
Kramek added that the “economic impacts would reverberate throughout the economy, adversely impacting businesses, consumers, and especially farmers who export price-sensitive commodities.”
China is the world’s largest manufacturer of container ships, and the Trump plan is designed to revive shipbuilding in the United States. But about three dozen groups representing U.S. importers and exporters, manufacturers, farmers, retailers, railroads, and seaports told the USTR that the port fees would hurt trade and the overall economy.
“If the intention is to drastically increase costs for U.S. importers and make U.S. exports uncompetitive, this proposal is likely to do the job,” said Lars Jensen, CEO of Vespucci Maritime.
According to a new study conducted by supply chain software company Cleo, 83% of business executives believe supply chain resilience is as critical as cybersecurity.
The report, “Expect More From Your Supply Chain: How Business Leaders are Reinventing Supply Chains to Meet Rising Demands,” said that 47% of those surveyed are considering using artificial intelligence (AI) to boost business resiliency as they recognize the potential to automate processes, predict disruptions, and enhance decision-making.
“As customer expectations rise and global challenges evolve, businesses can no longer afford to react — they must proactively anticipate and adapt,” Tushar Patel, Cleo’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “Building supply chain agility and resilience is vital for companies that want to keep operations running seamlessly, profitably, and competitively, especially in an increasingly unpredictable environment.”
Louis DeJoy knows logistics. He sold New Breed, the contract logistics provider he founded in 1983 and led as CEO, to XPO Logistics in 2014 for $615 million. And he has long known the U.S. Postal Service. It was a New Breed customer.
But DeJoy couldn’t turn the financially flailing Postal Service around during his nearly five-year tenure as postmaster general. He resigned his post in late March amid talk by President Trump and Elon Musk of privatizing the Postal Service or moving it under the control of the Commerce Department. There were also reports, according to The Wall Street Journal, that Trump was getting ready to remove DeJoy, so he may have quit before he could be fired.
“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,” Trump said during the swearing-in ceremony for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Logistics software provider Descartes Systems Group has acquired transportation management solutions specialist 3GTMS for $115 million.
Shippers, third-party logistics providers, and freight brokers use Columbus, Ohio-based 3GTMS’ products for automating planning, rating, consolidation, and routing of over-the-road shipments, according to the announcement.
The deal marks Ontario-headquartered Descartes’ 32nd acquisition since 2016.
“3G’s solution footprint for freight in North America is highly complementary, bringing strong domestic transportation management functionality for truckload, less-than-truckload, and parcel modes,” Descartes Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Roszko said.
UPS has launched a service that factors in duties, fees, and taxes for guaranteed total cost of international purchases before online shoppers check out. UPS Global Checkout is available in 43 origin countries and delivers to more than 200 destinations around the world.
The program is designed to improve price transparency for cross-border e-commerce transactions.
“We can program and modify the rules such as trades or tariffs or taxes in almost real time,” Kiel Harkness, UPS VP of strategy for Europe and the Americas, told Supply Chain Dive. “So there’s that core technology sitting there [that] is what enables and empowers us to offer the guarantee.”
The Arkansas Legislature has passed a package of bills targeting organized retail crime, including cargo theft.
“The industry saw unprecedented levels of cargo theft last year, up 27% from the previous year and a 1,500% increase since 2001,” said Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton. “These laws demonstrate that Arkansas lawmakers understand the economic threat organized retail crime and cargo theft pose to our industry and all consumers. The success of this organized retail crime package demonstrates what can be achieved when policymakers, industry stakeholders and officials like Attorney General [Tim] Griffin work together.”
Among the bills signed into law was SB 301, which creates an enhanced sentence of up to 10 additional years in prison for those convicted of cargo theft.
FedEx credited its FedEx Surround, a real-time shipping visibility platform, with helping it secure nearly $400 million in new annualized revenue for its healthcare vertical.
With the new business, FedEx expects to end the fiscal year with about $9 billion in healthcare revenue, Supply Chain Now reported.
It said FedEx is also using technology from its returns platform to help healthcare customers that need recurring collaborative delivery services, such as moving lab shipments between medical providers.
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Shippers especially value AcuAudit because it enables a fast and essential understanding of landed costs for imports.
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