"Few Americans have been exposed as exhaustively to every fluctuation of trade policy as the customs broker. They were there in the opening days of Trump's second term, when tariffs were announced on Canada and Mexico, and two days later, when those same levies were paused. They were there through every rule on imports of steel and seafood, on cars and copper, on polysilicon and pharmaceuticals, and on and on."
"Tariffs were imposed in ways she'd never seen. New rules left her wondering what they really meant. Federal workers, always a reliable backstop, grew more elusive. "2025 has changed the trade system," says Magnus. "It wasn't perfect before, but it was a functioning system. Now, it is a lot more chaotic and troubling." If this breathless year of tariffs amounts to a trade war, customs brokers are its front lines."
Customs brokers with decades of experience faced unprecedented tariff impositions, paused levies, carve-outs, and opaque enforcement throughout 2025. Tariffs and rule changes arrived across sectors including steel, seafood, cars, copper, polysilicon, and pharmaceuticals, often with rapid reversals or unclear guidance. Federal agency responsiveness decreased, increasing uncertainty for importers and brokers. Longstanding processing practices were disrupted, obliging brokers to interpret dense regulations line by line and update codes and filings continually. The cumulative effect increased compliance burdens, slowed shipments, and exposed brokers as frontline mediators between volatile policy and global supply chains.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]