Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 7 February.

INSIGHT: US tariffs unleash higher costs to nation’s chem industry
The tariffs that the US will impose on all imports from Canada, Mexico and China will unleash higher costs for the nation’s chemical industry, create supply-chain snarls and open it to retaliation.

UPDATE: China retaliates with tariffs on US coal, crude, LNG
China announced on Tuesday that it will levy 15% tariffs on coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from the US, and a 10% tariff on US crude oil, farm equipment and certain vehicles from 10 February – reviving a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

SHIPPING: US shippers likely to frontload cargos amid 30-day pause on tariffs
With the US agreeing to a 30-day pause before proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico take effect, shipping analysts anticipate a rush to frontload as much cargo as possible over the next month.

US Jan auto sales up year on year; analysts expect growth in 2025 with some headwinds
US January sales of new light vehicles rose year on year, and market analysts expect sales in 2025 to grow by 1.5-2.0% even with some headwinds including persistently high interest rates and a pushback on electric vehicles (EVs) under the new presidential administration.

US tariffs could jeopardize $800 million of Mexican plastics exports
Potential US tariffs of 25% on all goods coming from Mexico could hit the country’s plastics sector hard, with exports to the US worth $800million, plastics sector trade group Anipac said this week.

UBS sees US imposing further tariffs on China imports in Q3 2025 and 2026
The US implementing 10% additional tariffs on all goods imports from China on 4 February is likely to be just the beginning, with further duties being imposed later in 2025 and 2026, said investment bank UBS’s chief China economist.