The Supply Chain Daily provides a curated overview of Panjiva's research and insights covering global trade policy, the logistics sector and industrial supply chains and draws from global shipping and freight data.
Supply chain doubts swirl with 18 days left to stop a hard Brexit
There could be as many as 18 and as few as six Parliamentary session days left to avert a no-deal Brexit as at Sept. 3. Uncertainty as to the nature or timing of Brexit has made supply chain planning difficult. Panjiva's analysis of over 15,000 company conference calls since April 1 shows the issue has preoccupied the automotive and machinery industries in particular, with 21.1% and 15.7% of calls featuring Brexit discussions, respectively.
Within those sectors most companies, including Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC and Electrocomponents PLC, indicated they have built extra inventories. Many companies expect a slowdown in the economy, a factor highlighted by Cummins Inc. and Delphi Technologies PLC. Certain firms including Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC expect more complex customs regimes to impact business. Yet most — in the words of Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC's CFO Kevin Boyd — "have not tried to forecast it."
Some supply chain realignment is going on already. British imports of intermediate machinery and electronics from the EU have fallen to 47.4% of the total in the 12 months to June 30 from 50.9% in calendar 2015. There was also a 7.1% year-over-year drop in imports from the EU in the second quarter, while imports from the rest of the world rose by 10.2% over the same period.
![]() |
Best Buy ready to tackle tariffs, TV exposure limited by Mexican purchases
The implementation of so-called list 4A tariffs on U.S. imports from China from Sept. 1 has captured a large range of consumer electronics including televisions. Best Buy Co. Inc. CEO Corie Barry has stated the firm has increased inventories, made pricing strategy decisions and reviewed sourcing.
Barry has also noted that it is "hard to predict how much consumers will react to higher prices," limiting visibility on the overall financial impact of the duties. Panjiva's U.S. seaborne data shows 82.4% of shipments associated with Best Buy came from China in the 12 months to July 31. A 19.9% year-over-year increase in shipments in July underscores Barry's comments on inventory build-up.
Yet, COO Michael Mohan has noted that the bulk of Best Buy’s televisions are sourced from Mexico. Total Mexican exports of televisions to the U.S. by all suppliers to all buyers have actually fallen in July with a 10.2% year-over-year decline. Shipments associated with both LG Electronics Inc. and Sony Corp. have dropped, suggesting Mexico has yet to see a migration of manufacturing of TVs from China.
(Panjiva Research - Tech. Hardware)
![]() |
Target refuses to be targeted for tariff related price rises
Target Corp.'s chief merchandising officer, Mark Tritton, has reportedly told the retailer's suppliers that the firm "will not accept any cost increases related to tariffs" on Chinese exports and that suppliers should "develop appropriate contingency plans."
That's a particularly hawkish stance, though at the macro-economic level Chinese export price deflation in July was equivalent to 28.6% of the rise in U.S. import duties suggesting Chinese exporters are willing to make some sacrifices.
Chinese supplies accounted for 93.8% of U.S. seaborne imports associated with Target in the 12 months to July 31 according to Panjiva data. A 28.1% year-over-year increase in shipments from the rest of the world in July and 37.9% drop in imports from China suggests a realignment.
(Panjiva Research - Consumer Discretionary)
![]() |
China's import plans bode ill for the global trade outlook
The outlook for exports from Chinese businesses improved in August, with the monthly CFLP reading of 47.2% improving from 46.9% in July. Yet, it's worth remembering that a figure below 50% still indicates lower future orders are anticipated.
The bad news for global trade is that the import reading decline to 46.7% from 47.4% suggests imports from the rest of the world may continue to fall. Export data for 23 countries in July shows 13 countries experienced a year-over-year decline in July.
While the weighted average actually increased 0.1%, this includes a degree of stockpiling ahead of the latest round of tariff increases between the U.S. and China that were implemented Sept. 1.
(Panjiva Research - Economics)
Chinese chips, not Japanese sanctions to blame for South Korea's woes
South Korea's international trade activity fell for a fourth straight month in August with a 9.3% year-over-year decline. A 13.6% fall in exports was the main reason for the drop. The export slide was actually flattened by a resurgent shipping business, without which exports would have fallen by 16.1%.
The trade spat with Japan made little difference, with the main cause of the lower exports being a 21.3% slump in shipments to China. The electronics industry has been the main cause of South Korea's export woes — semiconductor shipments fell 30.7% while exports of mobile phones, computers and televisions all dropped.
(Panjiva Research - Tech. Hardware)
Letting loose the dogs of trade war — August 2019 in 10 reports
August saw a marked acceleration in the pace of developments in the U.S.-China trade war and is reflected in our readers' interest. The four most read reports in August all sought to make sense of developments including: the widening of U.S. tariffs to cover all Chinese exports; the division of the implementation of those tariffs into two phases; China's retaliation with additional duties on U.S. exports; and methods for identifying which companies are exposed to increased tariffs.
Our data showed evidence for a switch in sourcing to Vietnam and away from China, though the retail sector has yet to make major changes. Elsewhere our analyses also identified potential victims from an emerging U.S.-EU trade conflict, Toyota Motor Corp.'s development ahead of U.S. automotive duties and the relative performance of the major freight forwarders.
(Panjiva Research - Most Read)
Christopher Rogers is a senior researcher at Panjiva, which is a business line of S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global Inc. This content does not constitute investment advice, and the views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The Supply Chain Daily has an editorial deadline of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current at the time of publication. S&P Global Market Intelligence is not responsible if those links are unavailable later.



