Trade wars and tariffs: Understanding the risks to your supply chain
The U.S. tariffs on goods imported from China will have far-reaching effects beyond the two countries involved. Even seemingly not effected companies may need to reassess their sourcing strategies.
There is still a lot of uncertainty swirling around what effect the U.S.-China trade war will have on the global economy.
One way to gain a sense of how tariffs are affecting global trade is to look at IHS Markit's Global Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs). The Global PMI has proven to be a reliable indication of world trade dynamics. (Figure 1, for example, shows how the Global Manufacturing PMI for new export orders is a leading indicator of world trade volumes.) The PMI is a series of diffusion indices, where a reading of more than 50 on an index indicates growth, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Article Figures
[Figure 1] New export orders index leads world trade dynamicsEnlarge this image
[Figure 2] Change in market share for the goods subject to tariffsEnlarge this image
Since 2019, the IHS Markit Global PMI has been below 50, indicating that global trade has been contracting. IHS Markit believes that this weakness in global trade has been largely brought about by substantial changes in U.S. tariffs on goods imported from China.
In the past year and a half, the United States has imposed tariffs on three different lists or tranches of goods and has identified a fourth. The first three rounds of tariffs have already resulted in a significant shift away from China and to other countries of origin for goods imported into the United States. Mexico, Taiwan, and South Korea have all gained noteworthy market share. Tranche four, the last to go into effect, stands to see further erosion of Chinese market share as trade shifts substantially toward Vietnam. (See Figure 2.)
As country of origin shifts away from China and toward other markets, there will be reverberating effects elsewhere in all major markets—those in which goods will now be sourced, as well as across all markets that are buyers and consumers of those goods. Those effects will include changes in consumption, changes in production, and changes in investment. These market disruptions will cause the global economy to migrate to a new and suboptimal equilibrium. Under that scenario, the United States and China are both losers as measured by real gross domestic product (GDP), with the United States set to experience a 0.9 percent deviation from baseline and China set to experience a slightly larger deviation of 1.4 percent. Perhaps the most underappreciated fact in the narrative of this bilateral trade war is that the rest of the world will be negatively impacted by it as well, if not to the same degree as the primary participants. IHS Markit estimates that the global economy, at peak impact in 2021, will experience a 0.6 percent deviation from baseline real GDP. (See Figure 3.)
This analysis highlights the broad effects of the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. It is negatively impacting markets beyond those two countries and is resulting in multiplicative impacts in the economy beyond a reduction in trade, including changes in consumption patterns, production, and investment. In other words, the U.S. tariffs have implications for all companies with a global footprint, whether they are exposed to the Chinese market or not. It is incumbent upon each and every company to understand the risks in their current global footprint and the opportunities in new markets to ensure the best response.
Understanding your risks
It's not just tariff increases and the threat of an outright trade war between the United States and China that have led global manufacturers, retailers, and consumer brands to reassess their global supply chains and their sourcing and procurement costs. Other recent political events—such as the uncertainty around an open European marketplace after Brexit and the pending ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—will also have an impact on global supply chains.
These events emphasize how necessary it is for companies to pay attention to broader geopolitical events and trends and understand their possible economic ramifications. Furthermore, new risks are present today that firms didn't have to deal with a decade ago and even more will emerge tomorrow—driven by policy uncertainty, shifting bilateral and multilateral alliances, the expansion of consumers in new regions, and new patterns of unrest. Failing to identify the pertinent risks is incredibly expensive—realized through delayed investment and unforeseen losses.
Companies need to take a more rigorous and quantitatively justified approach to their strategic sourcing decisions than they have in the past. When deciding where to source from, it is critical to deploy a holistic decision-making framework informed by the broad spectrum of economic, risk, and industry factors that vary across countries.
There are a series of broad questions that companies should be asking themselves:
How stable and reliable are my current strategic sourcing partner countries? What are the odds of disruption? What are the greatest areas of risk? How are risks evolving over time?
What new strategic sourcing partner countries should I consider? Where do economic, demographic, and risk conditions align? What origin markets already support a product or segment? What origin markets produce adjacent products or segments?
Is my sourcing strategy appropriately diversified? Is my current strategy resilient to local, regional, and global events? Are there hidden or underlying risks that exist across my current strategy?
In a similar fashion, as specific events and developments arise, companies need to analyze how these events could affect their commercial operations. For example:
Will the recent presidential elections in Brazil have substantial effects on the real exchange rate to the U.S. dollar? Could this disrupt our company's input prices?
What effect could labor changes in Southeast Asia (such as changes in wages, labor force availability, and possible industrial actions and disruptions) have on our supply chain network? How would our total costs be impacted?
Could a disruptive event or violence in Latin America, such as large-scale demonstrations against government policy, pose a risk to our in-country team members, facilities, or partners?
How sensitive is our network to changes in the U.S. dollar?
How would a "hard landing," or sudden rapid decline, in the Chinese economy affect our network?
While each company is digesting, measuring, and responding to these critical questions and implications, the global marketplace is constantly changing and growing increasingly complex and interconnected. For example, evolving macroeconomics are dramatically impacting the costs for labor, raw materials, packaging, and shipping, and are doing so differently in countries around the world. Commercially relevant risks, including contract enforcement, labor strikes, and corruption, are increasingly impacting business operations and, sometimes, even strategically impacting companies through reputational risks. Meanwhile policy environments and social conditions, including regulatory, international trade, and tariff regimes, are changing rapidly. Finally, the sourcing behavior of competitors is constantly changing, presenting companies with both new strategic challenges and opportunities.
Companies need to recognize the cost of making the wrong decision, as well as the limitations of their current world view. A proactive and informed strategic sourcing framework is critical to secure existing revenue today and to grow a business tomorrow.
The U.S., U.K., and Australia will strengthen supply chain resiliency by sharing data and taking joint actions under the terms of a pact signed last week, the three nations said.
The agreement creates a “Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group” designed to build resilience in priority supply chains and to enhance the members’ mutual ability to identify and address risks, threats, and disruptions, according to the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade.
One of the top priorities for the new group is developing an early warning pilot focused on the telecommunications supply chain, which is essential for the three countries’ global, digitized economies, they said. By identifying and monitoring disruption risks to the telecommunications supply chain, this pilot will enhance all three countries’ knowledge of relevant vulnerabilities, criticality, and residual risks. It will also develop procedures for sharing this information and responding cooperatively to disruptions.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the group chose that sector because telecommunications infrastructure is vital to the distribution of public safety information, emergency services, and the day to day lives of many citizens. For example, undersea fiberoptic cables carry over 95% of transoceanic data traffic without which smartphones, financial networks, and communications systems would cease to function reliably.
“The resilience of our critical supply chains is a homeland security and economic security imperative,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in a release. “Collaboration with international partners allows us to anticipate and mitigate disruptions before they occur. Our new U.S.-U.K.-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group will help ensure that our communities continue to have the essential goods and services they need, when they need them.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help users build “smart and responsive supply chains” by increasing workforce productivity, expanding visibility, accelerating processes, and prioritizing the next best action to drive results, according to business software vendor Oracle.
To help reach that goal, the Texas company last week released software upgrades including user experience (UX) enhancements to its Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) suite.
“Organizations are under pressure to create efficient and resilient supply chains that can quickly adapt to economic conditions, control costs, and protect margins,” Chris Leone, executive vice president, Applications Development, Oracle, said in a release. “The latest enhancements to Oracle Cloud SCM help customers create a smarter, more responsive supply chain by enabling them to optimize planning and execution and improve the speed and accuracy of processes.”
According to Oracle, specific upgrades feature changes to its:
Production Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations improve manufacturing performance by providing real-time insight into work orders and generative AI-powered shift reporting.
Maintenance Supervisor Workbench, which helps organizations increase productivity and reduce asset downtime by resolving maintenance issues faster.
Order Management Enhancements, which help organizations increase operational performance by enabling users to quickly create and find orders, take actions, and engage customers.
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Enhancements, which help organizations accelerate product development and go-to-market by enabling users to quickly find items and configure critical objects and navigation paths to meet business-critical priorities.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
Businesses were preparing to deal with the effects of the latest major storm of the 2024 hurricane season as Francine barreled toward the Gulf Coast Wednesday.
Louisiana was experiencing heavy rain and wind gusts at midday as the storm moved northeast through the Gulf and was expected to pick up speed. The state will bear the brunt of Francine’s wind, rain, and storm damage, according to forecasters at weather service provider AccuWeather.
“AccuWeather meteorologists are projecting a storm surge of 6-10 feet along much of the Louisiana coast with a pocket of 10-15 feet on some of the inland bays in south-central Louisiana,” the company reported in an afternoon update Wednesday.
Businesses and supply chains were prepping for delays and disruptions from the storm earlier this week. Supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc said the storm will have a “significant impact” on a wide range of industries along the Gulf Coast, including aerospace, life sciences, manufacturing, oil and gas, and high-tech, among others. In a statement, Resilinc said energy companies had evacuated personnel and suspended operations on oil platforms as of Tuesday. In addition, the firm said its proprietary data showed the storm could affect nearly 11,000 manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, fabrication, and testing sites across the region, putting at risk more than 57,000 parts used in everyday items and the manufacture of more than 4,000 products.
Francine, which was expected to make landfall as a category 2 hurricane, according to AccuWeather, follows the devastating effects of two storms earlier this summer: Hurricane Beryl, which hit the Texas coast in July, and Hurricane Debby, which caused $28 billion in damage and economic loss after hitting the Southeast on August 5.
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Supply chain managers at consumer goods manufacturing companies are tasked with meeting mandates from large retailers to implement item-level RFID.
Supply chain managers at consumer goods manufacturing companies are tasked with meeting mandates from large retailers to implement item-level RFID. Initially these requirements applied primarily to apparel manufacturers and brands. Now, realizing the fruits of this first RFID wave, retailers are turning to suppliers to tag more merchandise.
This is one more priority for supply chain leaders, who suddenly have RFID added to their to-do list. How to integrate tagging into automated production lines? How to ensure each tag functions properly after goods are packed, shipped, and shelved? Where to position the RFID tag on the product? All are important questions to be answered in order to implement item-level RFID. The clock is ticking on retail mandates.
Different products, new RFID considerations
Hangtags, the primary form of apparel product identification, present a relatively easy way to attach an RFID tag. Pressure-sensitive labels likewise can carry an RFID inlay. The inlay, consisting of a microchip and antenna, holds the product’s unique identifying information. This tiny device is activated when the RFID reader passes by it. For nonapparel products, in many cases, there is no way to attach a hangtag. Therefore, a pressure-sensitive RFID label often must be put directly on the product. If the product is packaged in a box, the RFID carrier can be attached to or placed inside the box. Either way involves the use of just the right solutions, including the adhesive, shape, dimension, and placement. Moreover, there must be an efficient way to attach the labels to products. This requires process engineering and sometimes capital investment to integrate RFID labeling into highly automated manufacturing lines.
Metals, liquids, and low-surface-energy (LSE) materials pose hurdles for RFID item tagging. Tag and label inlays cannot be read properly through metals and liquids, and the pressure-sensitive labels do not always stick well to product surfaces containing silicone, vinyl, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Very small items are also difficult to tag. Metal paint cans, caulk or paste tubes, lipsticks, and reusable water bottles are just a few products that present RFID tagging challenges.
In other cases, it is not so much the product itself that hinders readability but rather the shipping method. For example, it is relatively straightforward to apply an RFID tag or label to a bag of fertilizer. But the fertilizer bags might be stacked 60 deep on a pallet. The pressure is too much. It damages the inlay, killing the tag’s readability. So, RFID tags, which were perfectly fine coming off the production line, are now dead from the stacking pressure.
Solutions and testing
RFID tagging and labeling programs take time to get right. While some manufacturers can set up a successful process in a few weeks or months, for others it can take six months, nine months, a year or longer. Variables influencing implementation time include capital equipment investments, the product types (for example, are the materials, shapes, or surfaces potentially problematic?), label supplier capacity and capabilities, and third-party testing rounds.
The good news is that best practices are being refined every day to incorporate RFID on difficult-to-tag products. A case in point is finding answers to RFID-inlay readability issues on metal or liquid products. There are ways to attach an RFID label to the product’s lid or cap.
The University of Auburn RFID Lab is the de facto U.S. authority on all things retail RFID. Through its ARC program, the lab works with end users to make sure RFID tags meet or exceed their required performance and quality levels. Walmart, for example, requires its suppliers to source from Auburn RFID Lab’s ARC program-approved inlay companies. “ARC is a test system and database that stores comprehensive performance data of in-development and market available RFID tags,” according to the lab’s website. “ARC has been working with end users to translate RFID use cases into specific levels of performance in the ARC test environment.”
High-quality RFID tags and labels are at the heart of it all. The following are some considerations to keep in mind when choosing an RFID tag and label provider:
What are their quality control and testing capabilities? Can they confirm that every tag is readable? Do they have software to verify that UPC and RFID information match up? Do they possess familiarity with Auburn’s RFID Lab approval process?
What is their capacity? How many thousands or millions of inlays do they create per day? Are there minimum order quantities?
What are their order management and shipping processes like? What is their delivery speed? How easy are they to order from? Where are their print facilities located?
Do they offer customization? Do they possess specialized equipment? Can they die cut irregular shapes, including very small dimensions? Do they possess adhesive expertise and application equipment? Do they have solutions for metal, liquid, and other difficult-to-tag items? Are they able to configure label rolls to work on automatic label dispensers?
It takes trial and error to implement RFID item tagging for nonapparel products. Effective, compliant programs do not manifest overnight. Collaboration with experienced label providers and the Auburn RFID Lab will help manufacturers overcome even the most complex RFID tagging challenges. There will be a roadmap to success, and the results in the form of better inventory visibility, swifter sell-through, and stronger sales will be well worth it.