As container trucks rolled by under his office window near the Port of Baltimore, Cono Bucolo, a 68-year-old customs broker, described the reality of operating on the front lines of US president Donald Trump’s trade war.
One client recently forked out $18,000 in duties for a shipment of galvanised wire from China worth $84,000 — taking a big hit because of the tariffs imposed by the US on steel imports this year. Another importer was so panicked about Mr Trump’s threat to slap 25 per cent levies on a further $200bn of Chinese products this autumn, potentially targeting a key product and wounding his business model, that Mr Bucolo’s staff worried for his health.
“We’re afraid he’s gonna have a heart attack,” said Luanne Ciaccio, vice-president at Mr Bucolo’s company, Pride International.