The Holiday Season Starts Now: How US Importers Can Prepare Stock in a Year of Chokepoints, Conflict, and Costly Oil
Every year, importers tell themselves the same thing: this time, we will plan the holiday season earlier. In 2026, that resolution is no longer optional. Between an active conflict around the Strait of Hormuz, renewed threats to Red Sea shipping, oil prices swinging from $71 to $126 a barrel within a few months, and a tariff calendar that keeps rewriting itself, the runway to Black Friday and the December holidays has never been shorter or more uncertain.
