It’s always hot news when Amazon is referenced in a story, but this time the online retail marketplace giant is in hot water. In August 2017, the media reported that the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed an investigation into the company’s processing and delivery of thousands of dollars worth of orders of consumer products, (including jewelry, home and kitchen appliances and musical instruments), to individuals and entities connected with Iran. Amazon is being investigated for delivering orders to an Iranian embassy, as well as to an individual who may have committed, threatened to commit or supported terrorism.

Drawstrings that cause choking. Ingesting baby rattle contents. Fire-sparking cellphone batteries. Electric-shocking power adapters. Consumers beware! According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), recalls that should put consumers on high alert occur daily. It seems product recalls are now the norm on a wide range of products from cellphones to ATVs, high heels, children’s clothing, and more. 

Hurricane season is upon the Western Hemisphere, and 2017 looks to be a record-breaking year. Before Hurricane Irma barreled through Florida, where businesses, government agencies and residents were braced for the deluge, it leveled small islands in the Caribbean with high winds, leaving chaos in its wake. A few states over, the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey may be receding but the price tag is rising to a multi-billion-dollar record. Unfortunately, ongoing disasters are not just attributable to hurricanes. In the western U.S. and Canada, wild fires continue to encroach upon civilization, spelling destruction for homes and businesses in their path. Mexico’s strongest earthquake in a century left dozens dead and buildings destroyed. 

The west isn’t alone in facing life-threatening weather conditions. Heavy monsoon rains paralyzed Mumbai, India's financial hub, flooding streets and disrupting land, air and road traffic. In the Pacific, Macau is suffering an economic loss of US$1.42 billion in the wake of Typhoon Hato, and the Hong Kong Observatory expects three more typhoons to sweep in over the coming weeks.

The industry is buzzing about the concept of digitizing the supply chain. Stories flood the media about how companies must digitize, but the process is still in its early years. Only one third of 490 top supply chain executives recently surveyed by Cognizant and Forbes Insights believe their companies have achieved high maturity of digitization of their supply chain in strategy, planning or execution.

...But what does that mean anyway?

On July 5, 2017, President Trump signed a proclamation officially granting duty free benefits on 28 lines of travel goods to all GSP countries. The U.S. travel goods industry had been impatiently waiting for this announcement since last June, when the Obama Administration granted only a limited number of countries.  

2017 might go down in the record books as the year of changing trade regulations. Tax and duty, preferential trade, import/export controls, and other complex laws are all under the regulators microscope in countries around the world. Adding another layer of risk, organization like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), UK National Crime Agency (NCA) and others are working to ensure that businesses do not engage in bribery as a means to obtain or retain business. Numerous countries around the world have passed anti-corruption laws, such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act, the Canadian Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA), Chinese Anti-Corruption Laws, and more. Some of these laws does not distinguish between small and large bribery payments, thus prohibiting any facilitation payments.

Many organizations are already getting hit with huge fines for breaches in anti-money laundering rules in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Germany. The first step toward compliance with these regulations is to identify those individuals that may be part of your company’s operation.

Globalization and protectionism is driving a new business paradigm for supply chains – a vigorous international debate on the parameters of free or preferential trade. From a strategic and global perspective, Brexit could be the first wave of de-globalization and growing populism in other nations. But President Trump’s driven agenda continues to cause turbulence worldwide as other countries look to strike bilateral trade agreements rather than stay in the previous regional ones.

With approximately 500 regional and preferential trade agreements now in place across the globe, companies can benefit from the lowered duty rates and trade barriers that come with these free trade agreements (FTAs). But managed ineffectively they also pose huge compliance risks. FTA information needs to be constantly updated to ensure accurate origin determination for making a claim.

Business often comes down to numbers, with bottom lines, profitability, growth and more, all part of the ongoing calculation of making a company succeed.  Unfortunately, the recent upheavals in global trade have made these calculations much more difficult. Unpredictability has become the new normal, with rising protectionism, saber-rattling from global leaders, and slow economic growth hindering financial projections. One factor that must be part of the equation for companies doing business globally is China.

Most of us are familiar with the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) and the work they do to protect consumers. Recently we’ve heard a great deal about safety recalls for air bags, mobile phones and hover boards – all of these with life-threatening concerns for consumers.  As manufacturers and importers, it is your responsibility to ensure every product meets the most current standards for product testing; an often difficult task given the mounting additions to the current federal and state regulations.

It’s obvious to many that global trade enforcement is topping the list of “To Do” tasks for the new U.S. administration. However, many do not realize that this is widespread all around the world and feels a lot like a protectionist measures. President Trump is no longer just talking about aggressive action- his budget plans, formation of new task forces, and cabinet picks all echo his vow to crack down on unfair trade practices by prioritizing trade enforcement functions. In Europe, the 2017 elections could yield more of the same attitude.