‘A shock to the system’: Roughly $300 billion in U.S. imports changed country of origin last year

Supply Chain Shakeup // May 4, 2026 ‘A shock to the system’: Roughly $300 billion in U. S. imports changed country of origin last year By Melissa Daniels Below is the latest edition of Modern Retail’s Supply Chain Weekly newsletter, which goes out on Mondays at 10 a. m.

ET, and dives into all things logistics and supply chain during a tumultuous time for the retail industry. To receive this weekly in your inbox, click here. When President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on U. S. imports from China and other countries, he did so with the aim of bringing back U. S. manufacturing.

“We will supercharge our domestic industrial base,” he said on April 2, 2025. But new data shows that while the past year did shake up where products are made, we’re still waiting on a resurgence in reshoring. In total, roughly $300 billion in U. S.

imports changed country of origin last year, representing big shifts in where goods were coming from compared to the prior year. That’s according to the Kearney 2026 Reshoring Index: Why U. S. manufacturing imports hit a four-year high despite record investment and tariffs.

Patrick Van den Bossche, the report’s lead author and partner at Kearney’s Strategic Operations Practice, said this shift was “staggering,” the kind he hasn’t seen in the report’s 13-year history. But despite what Trump pledged on Liberation Day, those operations landed in many countries outside the U. S.

“If anything, the immediate impact of the tariffs was a gigantic re-stacking of the cards, except the U. S. card wasn’t quite pulled just yet,” he said. Not surprisingly, the report shows imports from China were down dramatically, as the country saw some of the steepest tariff increases.

Here are a few key changes in imports from 2024 to 2025, according to the report: Direct imports from mainland China fell by almost one-third China lost $135 billion in U. S. imports 13 other Asian countries, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, gained a cumulative $194 billion in imports U. S.

imports from Mexico went up 8% from 2024 to 2025 Europe picked up $62 billion in U. S. imports This week in tariffs International relations continue to yield potential new tariffs.

This week saw President Donald Trump threaten a 25% tariff on European-made cars and trucks, saying the European Union is not complying with existing trade deals, per the Associated Press. On the flip side, there’s good news in the spirits industry: Trump is lifting tariffs on whisky imports following a friendly visit with the United Kingdom’s King Charles.

More at BBC and The Guardian. What we’ve covered How higher oil prices are shaking up the footwear industry Higher oil prices are driving up shipping and logistics costs for many retail brands, but they’re particularly interfering with shoe production.

MR’s Julia Waldow reports on how petroleum byproducts go into everything from midsoles to padding to stitching. Matt Priest, president of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, told Modern Retail that he can “easily” see a 10-15% compounded increase in costs by the time a shoe reaches the consumer in this environment.

“We’re going to be really hard-pressed not to tamp down these price increases, no matter what the reason is, whether it’s additional tariffs or it’s oil prices,” Priest said. “That’s one of the challenges of this environment.”

Amazon says its AI shopping assistant is gaining traction, with Rufus users up 115% MR’s platforms reporter, Allison Smith, wrote about the gains that Amazon is seeing with Rufus, its artificial intelligence-powered shopping assistant.

Users are up 115% year over year, while engagement is up 400%, CEO Andy Jassy said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. The progress is notable given that some retailers are striking deals with third-party AI platforms to sell products through chatbots — with underwhelming results.

Meanwhile, Amazon is betting customers will ultimately stick with retailer-built tools like Rufus rather than relying on intermediaries.

What we’re reading First Trump tariff refunds expected about May 11 – The Hill Trump, Iran are locked in high-stakes standoff as oil prices hit 4-year high – The Washington Post A probe into ‘forever chemicals’ in activewear lays bare fashion’s greenwashing problem – The Conversation