Ferguson, a distributor of HVAC, plumbing and industrial supplies, has acquired Independent Pipe & Supply, a pipes and valves distributor, and National Fire Equipment. Independent Pipe & Supply, based in Massachusetts, enhances Ferguson's presence and fabrication capabilities in New England, while Toronto-based National Fire Equipment boosts Ferguson's fire protection offerings in Canada.

Imports at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach slowed in March as new US tariffs took effect. The ports handled 766,093 import containers, a 12% year-over-year increase but a 2% drop from February. Cargo volume in the second half of the year is expected to drop 10% due to tariffs, says Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

Distributors should prepare for a possible economic downturn by strengthening their business resilience rather than short-term reactions, writes Mitch Lee of Vendavo. Key strategies include managing costs, maintaining core offerings, diversifying revenue streams, understanding customer needs and implementing value-based pricing, Lee writes, adding that long-term planning and agility are vital to navigating market volatility.

A survey from the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics shows that global chief supply chain officers and COOs have high expectations for agentic and generative AI. Sixty-two percent of respondents say that AI agents speed up decision-making, and 76% say that AI will enhance process efficiency by 2026.

The transpacific container peak season is starting early due to President Donald Trump's temporary rollback on tariffs for electronic consumer goods. Shippers from countries such as Taiwan and Malaysia are rushing to export within a 90-day window before the next tariff hike on July 9. Sea-Intelligence's Alan Murphy notes a surge in bookings from non-China countries but a sharp decline in Chinese bookings due to a 145% tariff.

Vanessa Maandal reviews five AI tools for lead generation: Leadzen.ai for B2B prospecting, Instantly for cold email, Seamless.AI for sales leads, Customers.ai for visitor identification and CoPilot AI for LinkedIn. Maandal highlights the tools' capabilities in automation and CRM integration, noting that accuracy ranges from 65% to 85%.

Ninety percent of B2B buyers verify content displayed in Google's AI Overviews by clicking on cited sources, per TrustRadius, countering worries about declining click rates. The research highlights the importance of creating authoritative, ungated content to be cited by AI and suggests that while traditional traffic patterns are changing, the quality of traffic is improving.

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors appointed six constitutional attorneys to the Legal Policy Center Advisory Board, which represents the wholesale distribution industry in precedent-setting litigation. The board aims to provide legal representation for the wholesale distribution industry, and the new members will help the LPC engage in litigation against administrative overreach and protect the rule of law. Joining the board are Megan Brown of Wiley Rein, Michael Connolly of Consovoy McCarthy, Andrew Grossman of BakerHostetler, Allyson Ho of Gibson Dunn, James Paretti of Littler Mendelson and Gordon Todd of Sidley Austin.

The Trump administration is using a novel legal strategy to make sweeping changes to federal regulations in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2024 decision to effectively end the Chevron deference, which had long provided federal agencies with broad latitude in interpreting statutes. The White House also plans to stop enforcing rules, relying on a 1985 decision that essentially found the court did not have authority if federal agencies choose not to enforce regulations. Trump and his allies are seeking to gut the sprawling network of federal rules that many believe hold back industry.

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