Tariffs and trade barriers

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454 paragraphs · Arrangement of Transportation of Freight & Cargo show all sectors

•changes in tariffs, trade restrictions, trade agreements, and taxations. In 2025, the United States government made significant changes to our national trade policy, including imposing tariffs on certain goods imported into the United States. The tariffs impacted our Global Forwarding business in 2025, most significantly in the second quarter of 2025, with volatile market conditions causing global demand fluctuations and lower volumes. Changes in United States trade policy, including tariffs on certain imported goods, could continue to increase our costs and disrupt global supply chains. These actions, and any retaliatory measures by other countries, may lead to higher transportation costs and reduced demand, resulting in potential loss of freight volume. Additionally, heightened customs requirements could delay shipments and require significant internal resources, increasing operating expenses and negatively impacting our ability to serve customers efficiently. If we cannot mitigate these challenges, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially affected;

Read in the 10-K filed Feb 13, 2026 ↗

The current volatile international trade environment as a result of intergovernmental disputes, trade actions, increased tariffs and other geo-political risks may adversely impact our business and operating results.

Read in the 10-K filed Feb 25, 2026 ↗

The United States has undertaken a substantial global tariff rebalancing effort, resulting in higher tariffs on imports, including significantly higher tariffs on goods made in China and sectoral tariffs on a range of materials and products. These measures led to threatened or actual retaliatory tariffs on goods made in the United States from several countries, including China and Canada. This created an unpredictable trade environment for shippers to determine if and how to adapt their sourcing patterns given these new and fast-changing regulations. If these conditions result in a significant, short-term or longer-term, decrease or redistribution of international trade volumes, it could negatively affect our business volumes and revenues. Expeditors' activity is particularly exposed to trade volume impacts from trade actions and tariff disputes between China and the United States, as we generated 19% and 22% of our revenues and 15% and 17% of our operating income in 2025 and 2024, respectively, on exports from China and Hong Kong. Uncertainty and changes to trade volumes could also affect air and ocean freight carriers because they may adjust capacity and transportation schedules, which could result in volatility in available capacity, and average sell and buy rates, all of which could adversely impact our operations and financial results. While some of those volumes are shifting to other routes, as customers look to mitigate their exposure to China-specific tariffs, it is too early to know what the overall decline in volumes might be. Many of our customers are subject to the increased tariffs and may experience increased costs of conducting business. This could result in a loss of business, bad debt or increased expenses in the future if our customers were to abandon cargo, enter into bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, or their ability to pay deteriorates. Additionally, the increased complexity of trade regulations and customs declaration processes challenges our ability to be in compliance with such ever-changing regulations and may require us to dedicate additional resources to our customs brokerage operations.

Read in the 10-K filed Feb 25, 2026 ↗