US tariffs have little impact on the UK transport sector

• 82% of UK moving and warehousing businesses reported no impact from the new US tariffs, with just 3.4% facing additional costs, significantly lower than retailers and manufacturers.
• ParcelHero says the sector has weathered tariff changes better than expected, even after the US minimum exemption on low-value goods expired.
• While manufacturers and retailers report lower demand and the suspension of some exports, transportation and warehousing companies remain largely stable but cautious about future impacts.

In a new government survey, 82% of UK moving and storage companies said new US tariffs had no impact on their business last month. Only 3.4% say they have created additional costs, which is lower than in any similar business sector. New US tariffs may have dealt less of a blow to the UK’s transport and warehousing sector than initially feared, says international delivery expert ParcelHero.

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) Business Insights Survey reveals that 82% of UK transport and warehousing sector businesses (the category that includes logistics, parcels, transport and warehousing companies) say new US trade tariffs had no impact on their business during September. Only 3.4% of moving and warehousing companies reported facing additional costs due to tariffs, compared to 6.3% of UK retailers and 11.5% of UK manufacturers.

International delivery expert ParcelHero says that now that the shock waves have subsided, it appears that companies in the transportation and warehousing sector have – on the surface – been less affected than expected by the new US tariffs this year. The new tariff storm began with the tariff hike announced by US President Trump on “Emancipation Day” on April 2.

“Our latest Business Insights survey, conducted between 15 and 28 September, reveals that the impact of the new US tariffs has not had the dire consequences for UK transport and warehousing sector businesses that some experts had feared,” says David Jenks Melt, Head of Consumer Research at ParcelHero. Remember that these responses also come after the end of the US minimum Exemption on low value goods on August 29. Before this date, goods worth US$800 (about £600) or less could enter the US duty-free from the UK and many other countries. We might have expected ending this loophole to have a more significant impact.

“Other industry sectors were forced to respond in different ways to the introduction of the new tariffs. For example, 3.9% of UK retailers and 8.6% of manufacturers reported that they had passed on the impact of the new tariffs to their customers – presumably those based in the US. However, none of the transport and warehousing sector companies that responded said they had taken this action.

“This is not to say that the new ‘Trump tariffs’ have not affected UK businesses as a whole. It remains to be seen what their full impact will be. Britain has successfully negotiated a 10 percent tariff deal, the lowest level of tariffs imposed by the United States, largely due to the near parity in the balance of trade between the US and the UK. However, the 10 percent increase was enough to significantly reduce demand In some sectors. For example, due to US tariffs, 12 percent and 4.2 percent of manufacturers and 4.2 percent of retailers reported lower demand for their products in September, resulting in a 3.3 percent decrease in demand for moving and storage company services.

“The US is Britain’s largest overseas market and, last year, around 39,500 UK VAT-registered companies exported goods there. This means that any change in the trading relationship is bound to affect British businesses large and small. The inevitable result of increased costs and falling demand has been that some British companies have stopped selling to America entirely. In September, 2.8 per cent of UK manufacturers and 4.1 in Hundreds of retailers said they had halted or halted their exports to America. USA, although moving and storage companies are not reporting a complete suspension of US services.

“Of course, we know that some major UK companies, such as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), were hit hard by the first round of tariffs and had to temporarily suspend sales to the US while they reassessed their strategy. This is reflected in the higher level of impact of US tariffs on manufacturers and retailers compared to transport and warehousing companies. However, the transport and warehousing sector does not operate in a vacuum; the success of the sectors All three depend on woven together. Manufacturers and retailers cannot succeed without their transportation and warehousing partners, and vice versa. Therefore, transport and warehousing companies will be closely monitoring the results of manufacturers and retailers going forward to ensure there is no further decline in UK exports to the US. There is still a possibility that this survey is just showing the calm before the storm.