The White House’s trade war is forcing a growing number of U.S. businesses into a painful choice between paying skyrocketing tariffs or waiting for tariff rates to drop—and hoping their supplies don’t run out in the meantime. Some firms, though, are choosing a third option: buying goods and then storing them in special offshore warehouses.
Customs bonded warehouses are in high demand, said Cindy Allen, a customs broker and CEO of Trade Force Multiplier LLC. “That's what I call the hope and prayer strategy,” she explained. “You bring goods, you don't pay the duty, you hope that it's gonna go down—you hedge your bets."
