Breaking Down How Tariff Costs Get Passed Along: Supply Lines

Importers have scrambled a lot over the past year, especially midsize businesses, which often operate on thin margins and are a vital link in supply chains.

First, cargo shippers rushed to stockpile goods before President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Then came surprise fentanyl tariffs on Mexico and Canada — the US’s biggest trading partners. Businesses then scurried to import ahead of the “Liberation Day” tariffs he touted before announcing them April 2.

Since then, US businesses snapped up space on container ships setting sail for the US when Trump agreed to suspend those country-specific “reciprocal” tariff hikes for ...