Borderlands is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Diverse supply chain can limit tariffs’ impact, expert says; CPKC launches Texas cross-border railway bridge; Canada-based components maker expands Mexico plant; and Mexico repeals ban on imports of genetically modified corn.With tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico a possibility in less than 30 days, supply chain operators should focus on strategies to reduce the impact of increased duties, said Vinny Licata, head of logistics at Fictiv.Licata said supply chain diversification — which includes everything from relocating entire manufacturing operations to embracing multicountry assembly strategies — is key to mitigating the effect of tariffs or other types of disruptions.“We’ve had a lot of things happen in the last five years or so. We have had the pandemic, we have a lot of geopolitical issues, we’ve had a lot of weather events that have caused a lot of havoc all over the world,” Licata told FreightWaves in an interview. “I think these supply chains need to be diversified, whether it’s globally or even domestically. You need to have that.”President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 1 imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, along with a 10% tax on Chinese goods

President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to hit imports from China, Canada and Mexico with tariffs could deal a blow to companies across North America and trigger negative consequences for the global supply chain, according to experts.Trump said that on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, he will impose 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. The tariffs are aimed at pressuring those countries to stop drugs and illegal migrants from crossing into the U.S., Trump posted on Truth Social on Nov. 25. He has also said he’ll impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports to fight drugs coming from that country.Sri Laxmana, vice president of Americas at freight broker and 3PL giant C.H. Robinson, said the company began hearing from concerned customers as soon as Trump made the announcement.“We’ve been pulled into countless customer meetings to run risk scenarios for if Canada and Mexico tariffs were implemented,” Laxmana told FreightWaves in an email