It continues to be impossible to ignore the uncertainty surrounding the US administration’s tariffs with last week's news around how the changing macroeconomic landscape will impact our sector.

President Trump earlier this week stated to media that tariffs on China would “come down substantially”, while last week the Office of the United States Trade Representative proposed an additional 100% tariff on ship-to-shore cranes of Chinese origin coming into the US (see story).

It is little wonder then that the Monthly Confidence Index produced by the US Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation shows a sharp dip in confidence among executives from the equipment finance sector (see story), with many believing business conditions will worsen in the next few months.

Stay tuned. We’ll continue to keep you updated on developments which will affect the materials handling industry.