UPS is undergoing its most significant transformation in years, cutting 20,000 jobs and shuttering facilities across the US, as it braces for a dramatic slowdown in global trade linked to sweeping new tariffs from President Trump.
In its Q1 2025 earnings call yesterday (April 29), the carrier signalled deep concerns about the health of the US economy and supply chains worldwide because of new tariffs.
“The world hasn’t faced such enormous potential impacts to trade in more than 100 years,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said on the call. “This could be one of the most disruptive shifts in global commerce in our lifetime.”
Tariff impacts
These disruptive shifts could follow President Trump’s new tariffs, which include a base rate of 10% on goods from virtually every country in the world and new levies on goods from China that total up to 145%. Trump is also ending the duty-free de minimis rule on imports of low-value goods from China and Hong Kong with effect from May 2.
In its Q1 earnings call, UPS noted that these tariffs will have a big impact on trade flows across the world. CFO Brian Dykes said, for example, that extended tariff policies could trigger a supply shock.
UPS’s response
