When it comes to US tariffs, it has become difficult for us to judge what to share with our customers and when, as it’s fair to say that the subject has become an evolving timeline lately.

At the weekend, President Trump signed executive orders to introduce a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff increase on products from China, but the tariffs for the two neighbouring countries have already been paused for 30 days.

The delay in implementing tariffs on Canada and Mexico has followed conversations with the leaders of both countries in the past 24 hours, where initial agreements have been reached to improve security arrangements at their respective borders with the US.

However, the increased Chinese tariff went live this morning and will seemingly impact our customers who ship from China to the US immediately, unless there is another change of heart. China have reacted by imposing tariff increases of their own on a number of US products this week.

Trump has suggested that the 10% penalty on Chinese products is just the “opening salvo” and said this could become “very, very substantial” if no agreement is made, while also saying that he planned to speak to his Chinese counterpart soon.

Therefore, it is practically impossible for us to predict what the US tariff situation will look like from next week, let alone next month.

Of course, we will continue to monitor developments closely.

If you have any questions regarding the above, then Westbound are here to help. So, please do not hesitate to contact us.