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Experts say the freight system could handle an increase in imports from Canada and Mexico, but there is little sign of a significant increase.
- Jan. 31, 2025, 11:11 a.m. ET
Companies in the United States do not appear to be making a concerted effort to rush in shipments from Mexico and Canada ahead of the high tariffs that President Trump has threatened to impose on Saturday.
Mr. Trump said after taking office that the United States would apply tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico, contending that they were allowing “mass numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.”
The tariffs would raise the cost of imports significantly, especially since tariffs are not applied to most goods under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal that Mr. Trump signed in 2020. Canada and Mexico together account for 30 percent of U.S. trade. Many industries could be saddled with extra costs, including the vast auto operations that straddle the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada.
Mr. Trump could withdraw his threat or reduce the tariff if he decides Canada and Mexico are doing more to address his complaints, Howard Lutnick, the president’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department, suggested on Wednesday.
With the tariff deadline near, some data shows higher freight volumes on road and rail, but the increases are not especially large, and transportation experts say rail and trucking companies have the capacity to cope. The situation, they said, is quite different from 2021 and 2022, when a deluge of imports overwhelmed supply chains, causing shipping costs to skyrocket and helping fuel a rapid acceleration of inflation.
“The industry’s probably never been in a better spot to deal with significant changes in the marketplace,” said Scott Shannon, vice president of North America cross-border at C.H. Robinson, a freight forwarder.
