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Smartphones, computers, and other electronics will be spared from the steep tariffs President Donald Trump announced earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in guidance released late Friday night.

The move comes after concerns from Apple and other tech companies that rely on China to manufacture their products. Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese imports sparked fears that prices for phones and laptops would soar. Apple alone lost more than $600 billion in market value in the days after the tariffs were announced.

According to the new guidance, electronics like semiconductors, solar cells, flash drives, and memory cards will also be exempt. The change applies to products brought into the U.S. since April 5.

“This is the dream scenario for tech investors. Smartphones and chips being excluded is a game-changer when it comes to China tariffs,” Dan Ives, Global Head of Tech esearch at Wedbush Securities, told CNBC.

He added, “I thi…

A new report from Ascential Medical & Life Sciences reveals that 69% of manufacturers have adopted some form of automation, but only 9% have fully integrated it across operations. Meanwhile, 42% of companies cite regulatory compliance as the top barrier to commercialization, and 56% say high labor and operational costs block reshoring efforts.

These findings come from the company’s 2025 State of the Industry Report, Automate, Innovate, Adapt. The report draws on exclusive survey data and expert analysis to highlight key trends in medical and life sciences manufacturing.

The report also identifies personalized medicine as a rising operational challenge, with 31% of respondents naming it the most difficult trend to manage in 2025.

“The medical and life sciences manufacturing sector is at the forefront of global healthcare innovation,” said Anupam Girdhar, CEO of Ascential Medical & Life Sciences. “Companies must learn to navigate a complex landscap…

Amazon is considering a $15 billion warehouse expansion plan that would add approximately 80 new logistics facilities across U.S. cities and rural areas, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The proposed facilities would primarily be delivery hubs, with some including large, automated fulfillment centers. The company is currently seeking proposals from capital partners and is reportedly open to long-term leases ranging from 15 to 25 years. Select locations could potentially receive direct investment from Amazon.

“Meetings like this with our capital partners are routine and part of the normal due diligence process, as we consider potential, future projects,” said Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly. He added that the projects remain under discussion and have not been finalized.

If the plan moves forward, it would mark Amazon’s return to warehouse development after a pandemic-era construction boom followed by a pullback. During…

President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariff hikes for most U.S. trading partners, dialing back his administration’s latest trade measures amid increasing concerns from businesses and global allies. The move keeps a flat 10% tariff in place for most countries, but excludes China, where tariffs have now surged to 125%.

“We are hitting China hard,” Trump said during a press conference. “They don’t respect us on trade, and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

The announcement triggered a major rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 3,000 points, or close to 8%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their best single-day gains since the early 2020s. Markets responded to the reduced risk of immediate global trade disruption, even as tensions with China escalated.

In response, China imposed steep new tariffs. According to Euronews, Beijing announced an 84% tariff on a wide range of U.S. goods just hours after Trump’…

Amid new tariffs and rising trade tensions, the Trump administration has revived a familiar demand: Bring iPhone manufacturing home.

Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Absolutely. [Trump] believes we have the labor, we have the workforce, we have the resources to do it.” She pointed to Apple’s recently announced $500 billion U.S. investment as evidence that domestic manufacturing is viable.

But a closer look inside the iPhone reveals just how globally interconnected its production process is — and why reshoring the entire operation would be more complicated than it sounds.

A Phone for the World

Apple’s supply chain spans over 50 countries and supports over 3 million people. While the iPhone is designed in California, nearly every major component is manufactured abroad. Here’s a look at some of the key components inside an iPhone, based on publicly available data about Apple’s suppliers an…

Louisiana’s Plaquemines Port has a new name: the Louisiana Gateway Port.  The new name reflects the Port’s growing popularity in global trade and its plan to become one of the top five U.S. ports by tonnage within five years.

Located at the closest point on the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, the Port offers deep water access with no height limits for ships. It also has strong rail connections, available land for development, and a new privately funded container terminal with global operator APM.

The Port hopes the new identity will help attract larger vessels and more international business to Louisiana.

“As we embark on this exciting new chapter as the Louisiana Gateway Port, we are committed to transforming our region into a vital gateway for global trade,” said Executive Director Charles Tillotson. “This rebranding reflects our unwavering dedication to enhancing Louisiana’s role in international commerce and supporting economic gro…

From March to April, the U.S. imposed tariffs on nearly every nation. In mid-March, the U.S. enacted a 25% tariff on many imports from Canada and Mexico, a 20% tariff on all Chinese imports, and a global 25% tariff on aluminum and steel. On April 3, a 25% duty began applying to imports of all autos and auto parts, with some exceptions for cars made in Mexico and Canada that fall under existing free trade agreements. On April 2, the US announced that a flat 10% tariff on all imports, along with additional duties on goods from many other countries, would go into effect. Most goods from China, for example, will be subject to a 54% tariff, and Vietnamese imports will face a 49% tariff.

Tariff policies have also been subject to sudden change. Blanket tariffs on all Colombian imports were briefly enacted and then dropped after Colombia complied with U.S. demands. In another example, the 25% tariffs with Mexico and Canada initially applied to all goods, but two days later, t…

Cyber threats are now the number one concern for supply chain leaders, edging out tariffs in a new national survey of industry executives. The findings come from West Monroe’s latest Quarterly Supply Chain Poll, conducted March 18–24 across 250 executives in manufacturing, retail, and distribution.

When asked to rank the biggest risks facing their supply chains, 23% of respondents chose cybersecurity. Tariffs came in second at 20%, a notable result given the survey was completed just before President Trump announced plans for new reciprocal tariffs on imported goods.

The survey also found that 89% of companies made supply chain changes in the first quarter. More than half said they adjusted their product, materials, or sourcing mix. Only 11% said they made minimal or no changes.

AI adoption is also widespread. Ninety-eight percent of respondents said they implemented AI in their supply chain operations during Q1, but many say the return on that investmen…

The freight world was thrust into turmoil over President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on freight transportation across both the Canadian and Mexican borders and as high as 35% on China and other countries.

It’s 10%, that is, except for auto parts, which got a 25% tariff. And then there are entire industries employing small armies of lobbyists who will formally petition the Trump administration for exemptions, changes, reductions and other fine-print alterations.

Confusion reigns. As Thomas Barkin, president of the Richmond Federal Reserve, told the New York Times, the entire, clumsy tariff procedure is “like driving through zero visibility, pull over and turn on your hazards’ type of fog.”

Businesses, large and small, have put their decision-making “on pause,” at least until the fog lifts. But it is vital that shippers develop a tariff management plan to capitalize on this confusing, unexpected development in world transport and trade.

In …

The U.S. trade landscape just changed dramatically. In a webinar held Thursday, Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen and VP of Customs Bernie Hart broke down what the new executive orders from the Trump administration really mean — including the end of the de minimis exemption, sweeping new tariffs under a “reciprocal” framework, and a warning to businesses: brace for disruption.

Here are five key takeaways from the discussion:

1. The End of De Minimis Shipping Will Upend E-Commerce

Starting May 2, all Chinese de minimis shipments under $800 will no longer be duty-free. A full global shutdown is expected soon after. “This is a big hitter across the industry,” Hart said. “We went from 100,000 entries a day to 4.1 million. Now all of that will require formal customs clearance.” Even smaller retailers using fulfillment hubs in Mexico or Canada will be impacted, as all duty-free shipments will soon require customs entry, additional data, and processing fees.

2. Reciproca…

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to close a trade loophole that allowed cheap packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the U.S. without paying duties.

The change ends the de minimis exemption for shipments worth $800 or less, starting May 2 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern. This move could have a major impact on online retailers like Shein and Temu, which rely on sending goods directly to U.S. shoppers without paying tariffs.

For shipments not sent through the international postal system, these goods will now be hit with regular duties. If they are sent through the postal system, they’ll face a flat fee of either 30% of the item’s value or $25 per item, whichever is more. That fee will go up to $50 after June 1.

Trump first signed an order to end the exemption on February 1 but paused it a week later due to logistical issues. “They figured it out,” a source familiar with the decision said. “De minimis is being stripped from China.” Read more

President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on imports, including a baseline 10% tariff on nearly all goods entering the U.S. and significantly higher rates for dozens of countries deemed to have unfair trade practices. The new policy, unveiled during a Rose Garden event the White House dubbed “Liberation Day,” marks a dramatic shift in U.S. trade strategy with far-reaching implications for global supply chains.

The baseline tariff will apply to goods from nearly every country except Canada and Mexico, whose compliant goods under the USMCA trade agreement are exempt. Goods from non-compliant USMCA sources will continue to be taxed at a 25% rate. The 10% tariff goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Saturday.

In addition, a set of “reciprocal tariffs” — calculated at half the rate foreign nations impose on U.S. exports — will take effect April 9. These higher rates target roughly 60 countries, including some of the United States’ largest trading par…