Supply Chain Research

Baby products maker Graco has indicated that while U.S.-China tariffs haven’t hurt its earnings so far there could be a drag of 50 to 75 basis points on third quarter profitability. For context the company’s EBITDA margin was 28.3% in the 12 months to Sept. 30. There is evidence of stockpiling in the third quarter ahead of duties applied in late September – its imports from China (including via Hong Kong) surged 55.9% higher in September vs. a year earlier. The problem relates to its imports of children’s car seats. Imports from China (including Hong Kong) reached 12,550 TEUs (twenty-foo...