No business likes uncertainty. Over the past several months, retailers that rely on goods shipped to the U.S. from China — a significant swath of the industry — have faced a highly uncertain landscape.

Since May, when the Trump Administration rolled out waves of tariffs on a broad array of consumer goods, retailers and brands have been on a roller coaster as tariffs on Chinese goods were raised, delayed, reinstated, paused, reduced and, imminently, implemented. In a story at the beginning of August, Retail Dive Reporter Ben Unglesbee wrote about the toll "tariff whiplash" had already taken on retailers and brands scrambling to adjust to the shifting sands of U.S. trade. 

It's a development that carries the potential to disrupt retailers and their supply chains in potentially damaging ways. The uncertainty our team and our sister publication Supply Chain Dive faced in trying to serve our readers with the most actionable and up-to-date information about what was happening mirrored the uncertainty felt across the importer community. 

On this episode: Retail Dive Editor Kaarin Vembar and Reporter Ben Unglesbee talk with Supply Chain Dive Senior Editor Shefali Kapadia about the challenges this story poses for everyone impacted by the tariff saga.