Haulage sector keeps cool in the face of Trump’s tariffs

ONS figures showed that while 60% of retail and manufacturing firms are concerned about Trump’s tariffs and the increasing cost of sourcing materials and transport fees, logistics firms seem to be remarkably sanguine.

Collated in late March as companies braced themselves for the US president’s ‘Liberation Day’, only 28.4% of transport and logistics firms said they were worried about soaring costs.

Similarly, while nearly 25% of retailers and manufacturers were concerned about the impact of increased trade barriers on their supply chains, just 8.4% of transport and storage sector companies were troubled by this.

However, David Jinks, head of consumer research at Parcelhero, said that the ONS data showed that almost all industry sectors had registered greater concern about trade barriers than when they were last asked about the issue in December: “Back then, 22.1% of manufacturers and 19.9% of retailers said they were worried about new trade barriers, compared to 24.5% and 22.3% in this latest survey,” he said.

“Only 4.4% of transport and storage companies expressed concern about increasing trade barriers in December, compared to the latest survey’s 8.4%.

“Considering that transport and storage companies are at the coalface of international trade and customs barriers, it seems the sector was determined to remain stoic at the prospect of collapsing globalisation,” he added.

The US announced today (10 April) that it was implementing a 90-day pause on customs tariffs for all countries, except China, with a universal 10% tariff in place while negotiations occur.