Supply Chain Research

U.S. trade policy in the past three years has been defined by the use of tariffs. These are set to continue through the end of 2020 at least and have contributed to a 12.1% year over year drop in imports from China in April and a 19.8% slide in the past 12 months. Tariffs may be extended to cover imports from Hong Kong as part of the Trump administration’s actions against China’s new national security rules. It’s worth noting that a 396% year over year jump in imports from Hong Kong in April was entirely the result of a $2.20 billion flow of precious metals, the largest since at least 20...