All The News You Need To Know: 4/5/18
The Trump administration has announced a preliminary list of 1,300 Chinese goods subject to US tariffs. The proposed 25% levy on Chinese imports could effect nearly $50 billion worth of goods. According to CBS News , The 58-page document lists, among its many items: heavy machinery; steel, metal and alloy items; electric generators; batteries and battery parts; transistors and semiconductors; motorcycles; airplane parts and weapons. Although these tariffs are independent from the steel tariffs proposed last month, they represent a much broader penalty on these foreign imports. The Chinese embassy in Washington commented on the latest move saying, "As the Chinese saying goes, it is only polite to reciprocate." A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 15th.
China strikes back as they announce new tariffs on 106 US products, including whiskey, cigars, tobacco, chemicals, aircraft, corn products, cotton, wheat, trucks, and electric vehicles. China's Ministry of Commerce tit-for-tat 25% tariffs are designed to harm up to $50 billion of US products. This comes after China announced $3 billion in tariffs on US agricultural products in retaliation for US steel tariffs. Both sets of tariffs represent nearly one-third of all US exports to China. This latest move from China comes less than 24 hours after President Trump unveiled his own set of tariffs. Although President Trump's tariffs are designed to crackdown on unfair trade practices, they likely will end up raising the cost of consumer goods across the board. Though neither country's tariffs have been instituted yet, Chinese officials look to deescalate the situation. "China's attitude is clear," Mr. Zhu, the vice minister of finance, said. "We don't want a trade war because a trade war would hurt the interests of both countries."
Anger at ELDs boiled over during a recent Q&A at the Mid-American Trucking Show.
ELDs, which aim to target hours of service violations, began being enforced this week. Independent truckers roiled by the new regulations are upset that the government controls when they can and cannot operate. The hours of service laws stipulate that drivers may only operate for 14 on-duty hours with a mandatory 10 hour rest period. Prior to ELDs, truckers kept logs with pen & paper which regulators believe were often inaccurate and falsified. As Wired reported
, "We did cheat our logbooks," says John Grosvenor, founder of Truckers United for Freedom, a group that argues for better conditions for drivers. "But that's because the Hours of Service rule doesn't work." Truckers main contention with ELDs is that they start running as soon as the key is turned in the ignition of their rig. This means that regardless of weather, traffic, or load times, truckers can't operate outside of that 14 hour window as ELDs have no pause button. A few days after the event, FMCSA administrator Martinez faced a different audience of truckers, and indicated that he might be open to changing some of the Hours of Service rules.
As of April 1st
ELD enforcement is no joke and will have you paying more for what you ship and what you buy.
As The Daily Republic
reports, "The ELD rules add another choke point for freight prices, which are already pinching earnings at companies from Cheerios maker General Mills to retailer Ross Stores. A driver shortage, surging demand and rough weather already have pushed spot rates up 28 percent this year through March 23 compared with a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. " While the spot rate market has been hit the hardest the contract
rate market
is not immune as some analysts forecast a 12% increase over last year. With capacity already strained, ELD enforcement could see an overall reduction in space by 2-5% . Ultimately, this all translates to shippers paying more to move freight and consumers paying more to pick up the margins.
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