The Friday Report: March 1st, 2019

National Retail Federation Urges Congress to Pass Tariff Reduction Legislation

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), tariffs cost United States consumers approximately $2.7 billion monthly.  Recently the NRF asked Congress to approve legislation which would require exclusion of some goods from the administration’s tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports.  Last summer, two lists of tariffs were imposed on Chinese imports under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.  Exclusion processes were provided to allow American importers to apply for tariff relief.

In September 2018 however, the third list of tariffs did not include provisions for an exclusions process.  The proposed legislation would require the government to provide a process for excluding tariffs for goods identified on the third tariff list as well as for goods on which future tariffs are imposed under Section 301.

A nationwide campaign “Tariffs Hurt the Heartland” showcases new data that demonstrates the negative impact that tariffs have had on American businesses.

FedEx Announces Cutting Edge Autonomous Delivery Robot

Designed to aid retailers make same-day and last mile deliveries to consumers, FedEx recently unveiled its new SameDay Bot, an autonomous delivery device. The new robotic wheeled device easily navigates city streets, sidewalks, roadways and obstructions and obeys traffic lights.
The FedEx SameDay Bot wheel system enables it to ascend steps and easily navigate curbs. A robotic door opens readily to reveal packages for easy access by consumers.

Roadie Delivers on New Round of Funding with Backing by The Home Depot

Recently crowdsourced delivery service provider Roadie announced that successfully secured $37 million in funding, including a major investment by The Home Depot. Total capital funding to date for Roadie is approximately $62 million.
Roadie provides a platform that connects individuals and businesses with goods that need to be shipped with drivers who are willing to provide transport. Launched in 2015, Roadie has expanded to include over 120,000 drivers. Today, Roadie provides delivery service to over 11,000 cities and towns nationwide.
The new funding will be used to fuel company growth as well as the expansion of machine learning. The innovative technology of machine learning is used to predict capacity and correlate deliveries with drivers based on real time supply and demand.