As tensions rose over Greenland, Trump’s renewed threats to impose tariffs on EU and UK goods and his visit to Davos once again put transatlantic supply chains under pressure. Businesses are already feeling the impact. The prospect of tariffs is slowing US imports, triggering stockpiling and causing customs delays, particularly for spare parts and critical components. UK manufacturers and retailers – especially in automotive and consumer goods – are facing higher costs, disrupted production and growing uncertainty around availability.
Andrei Danescu, CEO of UK-based warehouse logistics firm Dexory, discusses how the threats to impose tariffs play out in the real economy. He works closely with global manufacturers and logistics operators and hears, in practical terms, how political flashpoints translate into warehouse disruption and why robotics and real-time data are becoming essential as volatility increases.
“Just the threat of tariffs is distorting global supply chains. US-bound imports are slowing as companies pause orders, stockpile critical components and rush deliveries, triggering customs delay and warehouses filling with the wrong stock, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
“This is the commercial reality behind renewed tariff threats against the UK and EU and the broader use of economic and territorial pressure. The message to business is clear: geopolitics now overrides efficiency!
“For UK manufacturers and retailers, especially in automotive and consumer goods, the impact is immediate. Predictable delivery rhythms will break, forcing many to over-order or risk stoppages. ‘Just in time’ becomes ‘just in case’, tying up cash and warehouse space.
“The lesson is simple: tariffs destabilise supply chains and, in an economy already running hot, uncertainty is its own tax. All organisations can do now is prioritise warehouse visibility to inform decision making.”
