Trade issues, usually of esoteric interest to readers of the business pages, are increasingly and literally becoming front page news, most notably with the current US-China trade spat. Given this rather fraught backdrop, free trade proponents would have been heartened by the long awaited launch of the Asia Pacific FTA known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, just before the turn of the new year.
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Archive for Global Trade
Protectionist trade policies are leading to shifts in country sourcing practices and investments in automation and technology to help keep goods moving and visible. And there is no reason to believe that in the coming twelve months we will see a waning of geo-political posturing along the trade front. As we move into 2019, there are six major areas of concern for anyone playing a part in global trade.
Read More →ARC Advisory Group 2019 supply chain trends of the year include: Global Trade and Tariffs; Logistics Labor Shortages and Automation; The “Digital Supply Chain” as the Logistics Technology Concept of the Year; expansion of Machine Learning and AI Enhancements. With taxes and duties accounting for a substantial portion of cost of goods sold, it is likely that companies will be reevaluating the impact on their global supply chains. Meanwhile, the “digital supply chain” is a conceptual umbrella term that will continue to be used to identify supply chain software, communications, and automation efforts that meet certain digital criteria.
Read More →The top supply chain stories of 2018 included trade wars, increasing logistics labor costs, natural disasters impacting regional and global supply chains, and omni-channel innovation.
Read More →The Massachusetts Export Center hosted its ninth annual Mass Export Expo on Friday, December 7th. Although the conference was regional in nature, the topics of discussion are currently of great interest to businesses across the country and even across the globe. There were a number of sessions on topics ranging from US-China trade, US economic sanctions, the recently established USMCA, and much more. The panels included a number of corporate compliance officers and attorneys that […]
Read More →As U.S. importers, we live in interesting times. It can seem overwhelming just to keep up with what’s changing in tariffs, let alone know the full impact of those changes on your business. This quick summary brings you up to date on what’s happened in U.S. tariffs this year so far. It also provides ideas that can help you manage potential disruptions to your supply chain as developments continue to unfold. First, a quick recap […]
Read More →Tariffs and duties and data – oh my. The need for digitization grows as importers struggle to mitigate the impact of shifting trade policy, demand fluctuations, compliance risks, and duty exposure. In an uncertain international trade environment, “trade war” has become a buzzword sending importers into a frenzy on how to prepare their supply chains for the unknown and mitigate risk to their forecast. Proposed tariffs, retaliatory trade restrictions, or even temporary reductions on tariffs […]
Read More →I recently began the update of ARC Advisory Group’s research on the global trade management solutions market. At the outset, it was unclear to me how (or even if) the increased global trade uncertainty would impact the market for GTM solutions. In early 2017 there were two theses as to how the uncertainty from Brexit and Trump’s rhetoric on trade agreements would affect business activity. One view was that increased uncertainty would hinder trade volumes, put terms […]
Read More →Import tariffs and potential trade wars have been a hot topic in the media since Trump was elected President. My colleagues and I have written about the topic a number of times on Logistics Viewpoints, as well. However, much of the news propagates recent announcements and often includes an opinion on the subject matter. I thought it would be helpful to take an empirical look at import data surrounding tariff announcements and implementations to determine […]
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Supply Chain Brief
All is Not Quiet on the Western Front: Trade is Happening
China is currently the EU’s second most significant source of imports, and trade volumes are positioned for growth. Italy and China recently signed an agreement to further solidify the Belt and Road Initiative, alarming Italy’s US and European allies. This is only the first of many such concords President Xi hopes to execute for ongoing support to the multi-national plan to provide fast and efficient transportation options from inland China to Western Europe that is further affirmation of its commitment to open trade. Europe will benefit from greater trade access, but companies will also need help managing the maze of complexities that exist in importing from or exporting to China. That help includes tools that determine landed costs, logistics efficiencies and managing duty reduction programs like China’s General and Processing Trade programs.
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