Though the Trump administration postponed indefinitely raising the 10 percent Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods to 25 percent, iRobot, even “at the 10 percent level,” anticipates incurring $20 million to $25 million in tariff costs for 2019, Chief Financial Officer Alison Dean said on a Q1 earnings call April 24. IRobot argued unsuccessfully last summer for removing duties on the finished vacuum cleaners it imports from China under the 8508.11.00 tariff line on grounds the duties would hurt the company and that robotic vacuums are not an “industrially significant technology in China.”

Quotas are worse than tariffs, as importers are left without even the choice of paying more for the goods they want, the Free Trade Initiative of the National Taxpayers Union said in a policy brief published April 23. That's for absolute quotas, as have been implemented for steel from South Korea, Argentina and Brazil. The brief notes that quotas can be highly bureaucratic -- there are 54 categories of quotas for steel from those three countries. "As bad as tariffs are, at least they generate revenue for the federal government, as President Trump has repeatedly pointed out," the brief says. "In contrast, quotas drive up prices by restricting imports, but the federal government doesn’t collect a dime." The U.S. uses tariff rate quotas for sugar, which the brief also considers worse than tariffs. "As a result of tariff-rate quotas on sugar imports, Americans pay twice the world price for sugar," NTU's Bryan Riley wrote.

Americans for Free Trade -- along with 150 national and regional trade groups -- sent a letter to the White House April 22 saying that all tariffs should end with a China trade deal, and that the enforcement of that deal should "avoid any enforcement mechanism that would trigger future tariffs and result in long-term economic uncertainty." The letter also said that the exclusion process for Section 301 imports should continue, even if those tariffs end at the signing of the agreement. The groups, which include the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said, "American businesses and farmers bearing the burden of the trade war have been told repeatedly by your Administration that they must endure 'short-term pain for long-term gain.' They were promised that tariffs were merely a means to an end, and that all this damage would be worth it. A deal that fails to lift tariffs would represent a broken promise to these hardworking Americans. "

Rhenus Logistics of Germany acquired Freight Logistics, which is based in Miami, Florida, Rhenus said in a news release. “The acquisition of Freight Logistics is an important step for us in expanding our business activities in the Americas region and follows our latest acquisition of Rodair in Canada in the beginning of 2019," said Jorn Schmersahl, CEO of Rhenus Air & Ocean Americas. "These steps enable us to consolidate our network there and to serve both North America and the Latin American region from Miami as our new gateway. This will help us live up to our goal of being globally oriented and we can establish more links between the continents.” Financial terms of the deal weren't released. Freight Logistics "specializes in supply-chain solutions, international transportation (air & ocean), customs brokerage, compliance, warehousing and distribution," Rhenus said.

Most of the world is shifting more of its imports to relatively nearby countries -- for instance, trade within Asia, or Western European Union countries importing from Poland, Morocco and Turkey -- according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute presented April 11 at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The cost of managing far-flung suppliers across many time zones, combined with rising wages in China, proved "much higher than expected," according to Susan Lund, leader of the project. But the United States is an outlier. The proportion of North American trade that's done within the NAFTA countries is down over the last five years.

Near North Customs Brokers acquired two Canadian brokerages within the last month, the company said in an emailed news release. "Alliance Border Services of Delta, B.C., and ISL Customs Broker, a division of Island Shipping Ltd., of Nanaimo, B.C., were both acquired within weeks of each other" as part of a "strategic push to further strengthen its portfolio and reach across British Columbia," Near North said. Terms of the deals weren't released. All employees of Alliance Border Services and ISL employees joined Near North Customs, it said. ISL will continue to "function under its own name out of Nanaimo, a highly strategic location in the customs brokerage arena."

The Border Trade Alliance is lobbying lawmakers this week for U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ratification. “While we certainly wish the disruptions at the border weren’t occurring, they have shined a bright light on the importance of cross-border trade to the health of the U.S. economy,” BTA board chair Paola Avila said. The Alliance says the USMCA makes "major and important" upgrades to NAFTA, including in the areas of e-commerce, intellectual property protection and enhanced agricultural access.

The U.S.-China Business Council released the results of a survey of American and Chinese business executives, finding that about half think business will return to normal after an agreement on trade between the two countries, but that Chinese executives were more likely to have that expectation. The April 5 release about the survey also said that more than 75 percent of the executives think only some of the issues will be resolved at the end of negotiations. Just over half said the trade war doesn't affect their ability to do business.

Livingston International will take part in blockchain pilot involving the Canada Border Services Agency, the company said in an April 3 news release. The pilot will use TradeLens, a "blockchain-enabled digital shipping solution jointly developed" by IBM and A.P. Moller-Maersk, it said. "Livingston will serve as the first customs broker to leverage the TradeLens platform for brokerage automation," the company said. "Livingston's role in the pilot will be to enter and access information on shipments and streamline internal procedures without compromising accuracy or security. The CBSA is participating in the TradeLens pilot to determine what role the platform could play in its business processes."

Noatum Logistics reached a deal to acquire MIQ Logistics, the companies said in a March 21 news release. MIQ's workforce will be integrated with Noatum, a division of Noatum Maritime of Spain, "as there is no geographical overlap except in Chile, where the services complement each other," the companies said. The acquisition is expected to close in the "coming weeks." Terms of the deal weren't released. MIQ is based in Kansas and has more than 60 offices in 19 countries. "Together, we will be able to grow more quickly, ensuring our employees and clients’ satisfaction at all times," MIQ CEO John Carr said. "This is the right move, at the right time with the right company.” MIQ is owned by private equity firm Austin Ventures.