US-China trade deal frees up shipping

For weeks, Jay Foreman, a toy company executive, froze all shipments from China, leaving Care Bears and Tonka trucks piled up at Chinese factories, to avoid paying President Donald Trump's crippling 145% tariff.

- PETER EAVIS DANIELLE KAYE

But as soon as his phone lit up at 4 am Monday alerting him that Trump was lowering tariffs on Chinese imports for 90 days, Mr Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun, which is based in Florida, jumped out of bed and called his suppliers, instructing them to start shipping merchandise immediately.

“We're starting to move everything,” Mr Foreman said. “We have to call trucking companies in China to schedule pickups at the factories. And we have to book space on these container ships now.”

If other executives follow Mr Foreman’s lead, a torrent of goods could soon pour into the United States. While logistics experts say global shipping lines and American ports appear capable of handling high volumes over the next three months, they caution that whiplash tariff policies are piling stress onto the companies that transport goods around the world.

“This keeps supply chain partners in limbo about what's next and leads to ongoing disruption,” said Rico Luman, senior economist for transport, logistics and automotive at ING Research.

TIMING IS TIGHT