4 changes life science shippers should have on their radar

• New tariffs: The temporary 10% Section 122 surcharge expired July 24. Section 301 tariffs now apply to roughly 60 countries, ranging from 10% to 12.5%, with Chinese goods facing a combined 37.5%. Pharmaceutical articles are exempt from the new Section 301 tariffs.

• Pharma tariffs: Section 232 now applies a default 100% tariff on patented drugs and APIs listed in the FDA's Orange Book or Purple Book. EU, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland/Liechtenstein are capped at 15%, UK at 10%. Generics, biosimilars, orphan drugs, cell and gene therapies, plasma-derived therapies, and antibody-drug conjugates are excluded.

• IEEPA refunds: Phase 3 opens October 6 for finally liquidated entries. CBP has processed over 27 million entries and roughly $134.7 billion in refunds so far, but more than 20,000 refunds worth $1.3 billion are stalled on missing ACH banking information.

• IATA 2027: New battery rules take effect January 1, 2027, including new UN numbers, revised packing instructions PI965 to PI970, and updated battery marking requirements. This may affect the data loggers and trackers used in your cold chain shipments.

👉 Read the full trade & regulatory breakdown

Practical Guidance

If One Vaccine Becomes Three, What Happens to the Cold Chain?

Standalone measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are not licensed in the US today, and realistic market entry is several years away. That gives logistics teams time to prepare for what a split would really mean. It is not three times the work. It is three parallel systems, each with its own production planning, labeling, forecast, and cold chain footprint.

• Inventory: One forecast becomes three disease-specific signals. A measles outbreak could spike demand for one component while rubella and mumps stock sits idle, which means more safety stock and more wastage risk.

• Traceability: Three National Drug Codes replace one, multiplying the transaction data required under DSCSA.

• Storage: Providers with limited refrigerator space would manage three SKUs instead of one.

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PI650, PI620 or PI954? Get the Packaging Instruction Right Before You Ship

Biological shipments get rejected for the same reasons again and again. Knowing which packing instruction applies to your shipment is the first step to avoiding them.

• PI650 (UN3373): Category B biological substances, such as routine diagnostic and research samples. No Shipper's Declaration required.

• PI620 (UN2814/UN2900): Category A infectious substances capable of causing life-threatening illness. Requires a Shipper's Declaration and stricter packaging tests.

• PI954 (UN1845): Dry ice used as a refrigerant. Packaging must allow gas to vent, and quantity limits vary by carrier and aircraft type.

The three most common rejection causes are mislabeling (such as UN2814 markings on a Category B shipment), incomplete documentation (a missing Shipper's Declaration or no dry ice entry on the airwaybill), and improper packaging (no absorbent layer, or outer packaging that lacks required performance testing).

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Product Spotlight: Create dozens of parcel shipments with one upload

Mercury customers can now create domestic parcel shipments in bulk by uploading a single Excel file. Each row builds one shipment, successful rows go through immediately, and any row with an error is flagged for a quick fix, no need to redo the whole batch. As always, your squad is happy to help you get your first batch set up.

One view for shipments and pickups. Pickups now appear right alongside shipments in Tracking, and you can schedule a pickup from the Portal's main page, no separate menu to dig through.

Hybrid shipments, simplified. Sameday and Parcel hybrid shipments now track, notify, and invoice as a single shipment instead of two separate legs, so you get one confirmation, one Booking ID, and one line on your invoice.

Find any shipment faster. New quick filters for what's moving today, what's newest, and what's in transit, plus one-click export of your filtered list to Excel.

Fewer emails for your documents. Upload up to four documents right when you create a shipment. For international FedEx and UPS shipments, they go straight to the carrier automatically.

Employee Spotlight

Meet Tom Orr: 15 Years of Life Science Logistics, From Operations to Business Development

Tom didn't start his career selling logistics solutions. He started by moving shipments. After a decade in operations and six years in business development, supporting biotech, pharma, CRO, CMO, and cell and gene therapy teams across the Northeast and Canada, he brings an operator's perspective to every client conversation.

Tom joined Mercury in June 2025. What drew him in? "The people were the main thing that attracted me to Mercury." He also values the flexible service options, the tech-forward Portal, and the hybrid parcel solutions.

👉 Read Tom’s full story