How significant is the shift in tariff risk perception among trade professionals?
The jump from 41% to 72% in one year represents a near-doubling of the share of trade professionals identifying tariff volatility as their top concern, per FreightWaves survey data. Supply chain management has simultaneously risen to the dominant strategic priority, cited by 68% of respondents — nearly double the 35% who named it a top concern the prior year. Trade commentary frames these numbers as reflecting a hardening of what began as a COVID-era disruption response into long-term structural decision-making.
| Metric | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade professionals citing tariff volatility as top risk | 41% | 72% | +31 pp |
| Trade professionals citing supply chain mgmt as top priority | 35% | 68% | +33 pp |
| Companies accelerating supplier diversification | Growing cohort | Majority activity | Structural shift |
- The 72% tariff risk figure is the highest recorded in the FreightWaves survey series
- Supply chain management has overtaken traditional priorities (cost reduction, customer service) as the dominant C-suite concern
- Regional realignment — nearshoring, friendshoring, multi-country sourcing — is described as accelerating beyond pilot programs into operating model changes
What does "regional supply chain reset" mean in practice?
FreightWaves commentary describes companies moving from reactive tariff mitigation (absorbing cost, delaying decisions) toward structural changes: qualifying new suppliers in non-tariffed countries, building dual-sourcing capacity across regions, and redesigning bill-of-materials to reduce dependency on single-origin components. Thomson Reuters coverage of the same trend notes that tariff-driven disruptions are compounding inventory forecasting accuracy, which adds a second-order cost layer on top of the direct tariff charge.
Does supply chain restructuring affect freight routing and carrier relationships?
Trade press coverage notes that as companies shift production and sourcing geographies, freight routing and preferred carrier lane allocations follow. This is beginning to show up as volume shifts between specific trade lanes — for example, growth on Vietnam-to-US, Mexico-to-US, and India-to-US lanes, and corresponding volume softening on some China-to-US lanes even as overall frontloading on China-origin cargo remains elevated in the near term.
What Shippers Should Do
- If you have not completed a tariff exposure audit across your full supplier base against the current tariff schedule (including the new 60-country forced-labor actions and Section 301 investigations announced this week), begin one immediately — the coverage is now broad enough that unreviewed exposure is a real risk.
- When evaluating alternative sourcing countries, build freight cost modeling for the new lane into the total cost comparison rather than using domestic-only cost data — a lower FOB price that requires a longer or higher-cost freight lane may not produce the expected savings.
- For demand forecasting, account for the distortion that frontloading creates in your inventory pipeline — peak season sales data based on currently elevated import volumes may overstate underlying demand.
- Track volume signals on alternative-origin lanes via ANKPOST for early visibility into whether your competitors' sourcing shifts are moving faster than your own.