SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRADE AND LOGISTICS
The Pacific Northwest’ s trade and logistics businesses are driven by the region’ s ports, including the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma.
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Q: The region has already seen the impact of tariffs on US – Asia trade. What is NWSA doing to mitigate disruption?
A: In the last year, US trade policy has absolutely reshaped global trade and the supply chain. The sweet spot for our gateway, given our geographic location, is trade with Northeast Asia. That’ s nearly two-thirds of our international trade, and it’ s hard not to mention China. China is our largest trading partner— approximately 44 %— and unfortunately, they’ re also the current administration’ s main target. We have definitely suffered from the push for decoupling of ties with China, especially trade ties. Our volume with China dropped nearly 25 % last year.
The good news is that our trade with Southeast Asia increased by 5 %, especially Vietnam, which has become our third largest trading partner. We have also seen very solid performance in terms of year-over-year growth from other emerging Southeast Asian countries. But unfortunately, while the percentage may seem to be big, the volume base is relatively small as compared with China.
We are doubling down on our emerging markets. We established representation in Vietnam in 2024. Our contracted representative in Vietnam helps us facilitate cargo movement and represents our cargo
www. joc. com interests. We’ re working to establish market presence in another emerging Southeast Asian market this year. So, we’ re definitely realigning our resources to focus on those growing markets. We are also working to increase our connectivity with Latin America. There is growing demand for refrigerated agricultural commodities grown in Washington state.
Q: Beyond tariffs, what other supply chain challenges is the Pacific Northwest currently facing?
A: For our gateway, given that we consider ourselves a discretionary
gateway, one example is the harbor maintenance tax. To us, it is a longstanding structural and competitive issue, so we continue to advocate for ways to level the playing field. It certainly puts us in a less competitive position when Canadian ports can handle USbound cargo without having to pay this fee. As you can imagine, it is a highly competitive business— every penny counts. When you have to pay $ 150 more on a can, it matters in your decision making.
Another concern is the various policy decisions our federal government is rolling out for the trucking sector. We absolutely consider truckers to be an important supply chain partner, and we need their partnership to drive a higher level of service delivery.
Our focus is on delivering consistent, reliable service regardless of the external environment. We hope through our focus on service delivery, continuing to improve our infrastructure, working with
“ In the last year, US trade policy has absolutely reshaped global trade and the supply chain.”
our partners— the terminal operators and truckers— that we provide some level of certainty for shippers in this chaotic trade environment.
We’ re making good progress in that area, and we have a contingency plan. I’ m hoping for a tsunami of cargo coming into our gateway. If it does come, we certainly are positioned to handle that.
April 6, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 47