US retail imports profit at peril
Tariff Wild Card threatens US retail With retail sales continuing to grow, imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to remain strong this month after setting three new records this summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. “More tariffs could come any day, and retailers have been bringing in record amounts of merchandise ahead of that in order to mitigate the impact on their customers,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Retail sales are growing stronger than expected this year thanks to tax cuts and job creation, but tariffs are the wild card that threatens to throw away a significant portion of those benefits.” “The current boom in shipping can primarily be explained by importers’ response to the U.S. trade war with China,” Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. “Consumers appear to be spending money on go