American voters have returned Donald Trump to the White House for a second, four-year term. The implications of this choice will require some time to shake out.
For logistics companies, here are five things they should be considering under a Trump presidency and what they can do to plan for it.
- Trade policy by Tweet → Trade policy by Truth (or X)
During his first term, Erin and Scott have memories of a late Friday afternoon Tweet announcing the imposition of Section 301 duties on select Chinese exports beginning the following week.
The rapid-fire dissemination of policy and information made responsiveness paramount as news aged out of importance in a span of hours instead of days. For companies trying to ensure their clients are kept informed, a Trump presidency turns up the need for proactive research and preparation in your marketing efforts.
- The Financial Implication of Tariffs
For importers whose products were zero ad valorem duty but began incurring first single-digit and then double-digit duties, it meant that their existing customs bonds were rendered insufficient and new bonds were required. This led to bond stacking and caused problems for brokers with bond insufficiency on entries as well as cargo delays and accrued costs waiting for the new bonds to be put into place.
Logistics companies will need to be prepared for potential changes in sourcing by their customers which will lead to new trade lanes, new supply chain validations challenges and the work that is underway to map global supply chains will need to be ready for changes.
- An America-first economic policy will still require foreign inputs.
Supply chains are global because there are efficiencies to be gained and cost savings to be realized sourcing and manufacturing things from around the planet. Next spring, Americans won’t have 8K televisions manufactured in Charleston or bananas grown in Louisiana. But as he sets policy and selects those countries with whom he might want to have preferential trade agreements, new points of origin may emerge. Those new points of origin might also not have the supporting airport, seaport or other infrastructure to support supplying a base of American consumers. Companies will need to be ready to lean into their global offices or forwarding network partners to secure business and capacity on these trade lanes.
- How will his immigration goals affect supply chain labor?
President-elect Trump has been very vocal about immigration. The concern here is that a number of his advisors have advocated for policies that see the departure of people here legally – either on visas or naturalized citizens.
If this happens, companies throughout the supply chain will need to examine the exposure this creates for their workforces, both blue and white collar. Many people working in warehouses and in the trucking industry are immigrants. If his administration’s policies extend to those cohorts, what does this mean for the size and availability of an eligible workforce and does it accelerate the advancement of automated solutions? These are questions that nobody has answers for yet.
- Does this accelerate automation within supply chains? (And what will the ILA and ILWU say about it?)
The USMX reached an agreement on a significant increase in pay and benefits, but left unfinished the matter of automation on the waterfront. Given Elon Musk’s increased visibility and role in Trump’s election throughout 2024, there’s no reason to believe that automation won’t accelerate and the potential friction of a push to automate at the expense of very strong and entrenched labor interests won’t play out and impact supply chains.
Position : Global is your partner in this evolving messaging and communication environment.
From customs regulations to supply chain disruptions, your industry moves at lightning speed. Position : Global moves faster. As the market leader in logistics and supply chain marketing, we combine deep industry expertise—including a licensed customs broker and veteran logistics professionals—with sharp strategic thinking to keep you ahead of the curve.
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