Companies violate export compliance laws every day. Either an organization intentionally commits export violations and misleads the government, or simply lacks the proper export compliance program to alert them when in danger. 

Either way, these violations can ultimately lead to millions of dollars' worth of fines, loss of credibility, a tarnished reputation, imprisonment and loss of exportation privileges. Although a majority of companies would never intentionally commit export compliance violations - the latter happens all too often to unsuspecting organizations with an outdated, manual or weak export compliance solution.

Unpredictability around trade protectionism isn't just limited to the US, or even the western hemisphere. For global companies sourcing and shipping around the world, it can be important to know some of the quirkier import and export anomalies, saving time and avoiding headaches from denied shipments and surprise tariffs.

The first round of negotiation meetings of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 2.0 were held in Washington D.C. on August 16-20, 2017. The negotiating parties convened to modernize the NAFTA agreement (implemented in 1994) at the request of the Trump Administration. Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the Agreement, unless new terms (favorable to the U.S.) are struck.

Customs has increased its focus on exporters with higher fines and tougher penalties. As an exporter, are you aware of your compliance responsibilities? Do you know how non-compliance can impact your organization?

This is an update to a blog post originally published on March 10, 2017.

Update:  Last month, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) decided to remove ZTE Corporation from its Entity List, allowing the company to continue business in the United States. 

“By acknowledging the mistakes we made, taking responsibility for them... we are committed to a ZTE that is fully compliant, healthy, and trustworthy.”

- Zhao Xianming, ZTE President

To comply or not to comply, that is the question often faced by companies in regards to their export compliance programs. The amount of political upheaval over the past year will have significant impact on the world of global trade management for years to come. With more political upheaval, financial stress, and regulatory change on the horizon, is your company prepared for the changes to come?

Rome was not built in a day, and neither should your export management or compliance programs. To build these programs your company must develop, implement, adhere to operational policies, procedures, protocols, and guidelines for export compliance operations. Automating the export process with the use of the proper technologies will help provide the structure needed by your company.

As companies like yours look to increase revenues and expand into rewarding foreign markets, uncertainties and complexities await. These lurking uncertainties are the primary challenges and complications with export compliance. Rapid growth for your company often means entering new fertile markets, expanding production, and reaching new customers. All of these factors bring immeasurable pressure to your trade compliance team. 

Let’s face it, export compliance is tedious and complicated work. Government rules and regulations are constantly changing and trying to tackle this problem manually can be an overwhelming nightmare. Do not let export compliance control your valuable time. Take back your work day with processes and technologies designed to maximize your efficiencies and reduce export compliance risks.

After analyzing the global trade enviroment for decades, American Shipper has released its latest landscape report. Dive into their latest report on the ever changing policies to come in the global trade winds.