The first week of August 2025 has blown past every post-pandemic benchmark for supply-chain turmoil. Washington’s new “reciprocal” tariff grid now blankets nearly 70 nations with 10–41 percent duties (Canada is hammered with 35 percent, India jumps to 50 percent, China’s 80 percent threat looms for August 12).
Between June 24 and July 3, 2025, global logistics entered a new phase of “permanent volatility.” With President Trump holding firm on the July 9 tariff deadline, Vietnam clinched a last-minute exemption while Europe and Japan scramble to avoid 25–50 percent duties. Trans-Pacific spot rates whipsawed as shippers front-loaded cargo, port strikes in Sweden pushed global on-time arrivals below 60 percent, and congestion fees soared.
