I found God
in the Holy Land of Wilmington, Delaware.
As fate would have it, I missed a turn
on my morning walk,
and when I stopped to see
where I was, I saw His car, a maroon
Ford Escape, illegally parked on W 7th St.
I waited a minute or two
to see if God would come out
to move his car, or walk his dog
Or do whatever it is
God does in the mornings.
But nobody came. Maybe He sleeps late
on the weekends, I thought to myself, and I walked
back up the hill, so empty, and took the turn I missed
back home.
—-
Moving on, here is the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:
- E-Commerce Sellers Brace for End of De Minimis (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Amazon is not planning to break out tariff costs online as White House attacks potential move (AP)
- UPS to cut 20K jobs, close some facilities as it reduces Amazon shipments it handles (ABC News)
- DHL will restart global shipments worth over $800 to US consumers (CNN)
- Beijing Doesn’t Want America to See Its Trade-War Pain (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Japan auto parts makers look at passing on tariff costs: Nikkei survey (Nikkei Asia)
- Cargo Shipments From China to U.S. Slide Toward a Standstill (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Trump signs order requiring truck drivers to speak English, pass literacy tests as ‘communication problems’ mount (NY Post)
- House Votes to Repeal California’s Clean Truck Policies (New York Times)
- Mack Trucks to Offer a Battery-Electric Version of its Newest Highway Truck, the Mack Pioneer
- International Unveils Battery-Electric Regional-Haul Tractor (Transport Topics)
- Aurora Begins Commercial Driverless Trucking in Texas, Ushering in a New Era of Freight
- Australia’s WiseTech discloses role in US cloud firm E2open’s strategic review (Reuters)
- ShipBob Introduces ShipBob Plus, a Fulfillment Solution for Mid-Market & Enterprise Merchants that Require Scale, Support, and Speed
- C.H. Robinson Reports 2025 First Quarter Results
It’s De Minimis Day!
De Minimis is a Latin phrase that means, “Pay more for your e-commerce shipments from China and Hong Kong,” or something like that.
As Liz Young and Shen Lu report in the Wall Street Journal:
The so-called de minimis provision that exempts packages of $800 or less from duties is scheduled to end at just after midnight Eastern time on Friday [May 2, 2025] for goods made in China and Hong Kong, after President Trump in early April ordered the end of the policy.
The change will leave most shipments, including those carried by FedEx or United Parcel Service, subject to the new 145% base tariff on all Chinese products, as well as additional levies based on the nature of the products. Steep fees on packages containing merchandise from China shipped via the international postal network kick in at the same time.
How much will these tariffs add to the cost of an e-commerce order from China? Amazon was reportedly considering showing customers the added cost on its website, but the company didn’t move forward with it (maybe due to blowback it received from the Trump administration not to do it). As reported by the AP:
Only Amazon’s Haul service — its recently launched, low-cost storefront — “considered the idea” of listing import charges on certain products, company spokesperson Tim Doyle said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. But this “was never approved and is not going to happen.”
Assuming these tariffs remain in place for an extended period of time, we should all expect to pay more for online orders starting today or in the near future once existing inventories are drawn down. And for businesses dependent on imports from China or Hong Kong to fulfill e-commerce orders, especially small and midsized companies, this could be a lethal blow to them. According to the WSJ article, “more than 80% of [e-commerce] executives said eliminating de minimis would threaten their company’s survival in a survey earlier this year conducted by retail analysis firm Wakefield Research and logistics company Swap Commerce.”
Maybe the Trump administration will flip-flop on this change as it has on other tariffs. A lot of people and companies are hoping so.
(For related commentary, see “The Logistics Of The De Minimis Entry.”)
I’m out of time this morning, so I’ll share the rest of my commentary next week.
Have a meaningful weekend!
Song of the Week: “What’s the Deal with David?” by Oh Pep!
