I’m getting to that age where some friends and people I have worked with are starting to retire.
With six more years of college tuitions to pay, I still have some miles to go before I can even think about it.
Ok, that’s a lie, I do think about it sometimes.
With more time on my hands, I would start engaging with spam callers and emailers. I get enough spam today to keep me occupied for weeks. I would string these spammers along with lots of questions and feigned interest about whatever they’re offering, then abruptly change my mind, apologize, and end the conversation.
That would be my Mondays.
The rest of the week would be filled with bike rides, reading, hikes, writing, listening to music, and sitting around waiting for the kids to call (among other things).
But before any of that, I have to write this post.
So, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:
- EU delays implementing first retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods to middle of April (MSNBC)
- For Importers Rushing to Beat Tariffs, It’s Life on the Edge (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Big Retailers’ Hardball Tariff Playbook: Haggle, Diversify, Raise Prices (WSJ – sub. req’d)
- Proposed US port fees on China-built ships begin choking coal, agriculture exports (Reuters)
- Descartes Study: 39% of High-growth Companies Leverage Trade Compliance as Competitive Advantage
- YMX Logistics Unveils YMX OS: The Yard Operating System for Enterprise Supply Chains
- Cass Transportation Index Report February 2025
- FMC Launching Examination of Global Maritime Chokepoints
Global Trade Compliance: Still Think It’s Just Paperwork?
Just like the Covid pandemic provided CEOs and CFOs with a crash course on the role and importance of supply chain management, all the changes with tariffs and trade policies is providing them with a lesson on the role and importance of global trade compliance.
In a February 2018 post, I wrote the following:
Several years ago, I attended a conference where a young professional from a medical device company gave a great presentation about free trade agreements — what they are, why they are important, and how to use them effectively as part of your global trade operations.
During the Q&A session afterwards, a young professional seated next to me asked the presenter if she was using any type of software at her company to manage free trade agreements. “No, we use Excel,” she said. “We bring in attorneys and trade experts to help us understand the regulations and develop the formulas, and we just enter everything into Excel. I wish we had some software designed specifically for trade, but it’s not something our company has decided to invest in yet.”
The young professional who asked the question, who worked at a leading toy company, replied back, “Yeah, we use Excel too.”
So, two leading companies in their respective industries, managing a highly strategic and risky supply chain process with Excel spreadsheets. Fast forward to today and it wouldn’t surprise me if those two companies (and many others) are still using spreadsheets to manage their trade compliance processes.
Fast forward seven more years and it seems like things have started to change, based on a research study conducted by Descartes Systems Group. According to the press release:
The study showed that 39% of fast-growing companies (those expecting greater than 15% growth over the next two years) consider trade compliance to be a competitive advantage and not only a regulatory requirement, compared to 22% of slower-growing companies (those with less than 5% growth expectations).
Furthermore, 57% of companies surveyed believe technology is also very or extremely important for competitive advantage in trade compliance strategies.
I saw signs of this starting to happen when the Section 301 tariffs on China were implemented in 2018. In a survey we conducted with our Indago supply chain research community at the time, one of our members (a supply chain executive from a $1B+ manufacturer) shared the following:
“It has brought international trade compliance into the limelight and I find myself talking to executives that I have never spoken to before. It has given me opportunities to educate leadership concerning international trade and to communicate other risks as well. I overhear people at lunch discussing the Section 301 tariffs and I take advantage of those informal opportunities to correct misconceptions, raise awareness of trade risk and show them how international trade impacts their position within the company. It’s a great time to be in international trade compliance.”
The bottom line is that if you’re still viewing trade compliance as just paperwork that you can manage with Excel spreadsheets, you’re putting yourself in a very risky and potentially costly situation.
And with that, I have some spam emails to delete. Have a meaningful weekend!
Song of the Week: “Your House” by Inhaler
