Supply Chain

Reductions in passenger air service reduce available belly-cargo capacity, which can increase shipping costs that may be passed on to consumers through higher retail prices.

UPS Worldport has the capacity to sort about 416,000 packages per hour.

The 'direct import' retail model involves retailers placing large orders months ahead and using their own logistics operations to import goods into the U.S. to boost margins.

The 'domestic shipping' sourcing model involves suppliers handling importing and warehousing while retailers place smaller, closer-to-need orders.

Tariffs and trade uncertainty can prompt retailers to shift import responsibilities to suppliers, causing retailers to order later and in smaller, more frequent batches while suppliers hold more inventory and face increased exposure to customs- and inventory-related risks, a pattern especially evident for discretionary goods such as toys.

Rare earth elements are critical inputs for advanced technologies, and loss of access to those elements can disrupt supply chains for those technologies.

Energy research company Wood Mackenzie estimated that China produces as much as 95% of the world's rare-earth magnets.

The U.S. State Department stated that foreign truck drivers can pose risks to American lives, U.S. national security, and U.S. foreign policy interests, and that ensuring high standards for drivers is important for protecting American truckers' livelihoods and maintaining a secure, resilient supply chain.

In April 2025 Govini entered a 10-year agreement valued at $919 million with the U.S. Department of Defense and the General Services Administration to build a supply-chain risk platform.

Simple, ubiquitous semiconductor components can be critical to automotive manufacturing, and shortages of such parts can threaten to halt or significantly disrupt vehicle production.

Nexperia is a Netherlands-based semiconductor company that sends most of its products to facilities in China for packaging and testing before delivering them to customers.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) estimates that cargo thefts account for up to $35 billion in losses in the United States each year.

Cargo thefts frequently occur while shipments are in transit and can involve sophisticated online schemes that make the heists difficult to detect.

A common modus operandi for cargo thieves is to impersonate legitimate trucking companies by stealing business identities, creating fake online profiles, bidding on freight jobs, hiring unsuspecting drivers online, and remotely redirecting drivers to pick up or deliver stolen shipments.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducts inspections at federally authorized container freight stations to verify immigration compliance and safeguard supply chain security.

Easing supply-chain pressures and strong competition among grocery retailers can lead to lower retail food prices for consumers.