Supply Chain Research

U.S. international trade activity slumped 27.6% lower than a year earlier in May as the drop in economic activity caused by COVID-19 related store and factory closures ravaged demand. The automotive industry was the main driver with a 75.2% drop in exports and a 72.6% slide in imports. Excluding the autos sector, trade fell by 20.7%. The slowest rate of decline in exports, which dropped by 34.9% in aggregate, was in food and farm goods where exports declined by just 7.0%. Shipments of farm goods to China under the phase 1 trade deal may have helped but not entirely offset COVID-19 disrup...