Supply Chain Research

The phase 1 trade deal between the U.S. and China leaves all U.S. tariffs in place – with only a modest cut in the duty rate applied to list 4 products in September – with the likely result that imports will remain suppressed. U.S. imports of products covered by list 1 to list 4A tariffs fell by 37.6% year over year in December. That was faster than a month earlier and reflects stockpiling ahead of a postponed tariff increase a year earlier. Imports of list 3 products, where tariffs were first applied in Sept. 2018 and increased in May 2019, fell fastest with a 47.1% drop. The largest co...