In the 2025 March/April issue, Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International quoted Ashley Craig on the uncertainties global trade faces among tariffs, sanctions, and enforcement shifts.
According to the article, the new administration’s tariffs on the country’s largest trading partners are impacting project planning around the world.
Craig explained that the recent increase in tariff proposals and associated criticisms is a concern but is not wholly new. “It all goes back to the current president’s first term, where we saw the use of tariffs in non-traditional areas as a way of expressing the administration’s policies on international trade.”
Craig noted that tariffs did not return to the status quo ante during the Biden administration. “It is very difficult, almost impossible, to undo tariffs once they are in place, especially after the global trading community has accommodated to them.” He explained that initially exporters, especially those in China, absorbed the costs, but cautioned that has shifted to where importers are having to absorb them.
Craig also cautioned that “in the last year and a half, customs has been very aggressive about enforcement, especially rules about forced labor content. There is no notice in advance. You just get a letter and then must prove that your goods are clean. Our practice is focused on carriers and freight forwarders, providing guidance on emerging regulations and compliance. But there is only so much you can do beyond voluntary disclosure and responding to enforcement actions.”
Click here to access the article.