Change is a constant when your sourcing practices have to ride the waves of global trade policy. In the face of rising tariff costs, consumer expectations for sustainability, environmental challenges, and international politics, many shippers are looking to change and diversify their global sourcing practices.

Parts and material sourcing is what determines the success of a final product, therefore it is incredibly important that any changes made to sourcing practices keep quality top of mind. Of course, that's not all there is to consider when diversifying your sources. It's easy to overlook something very important that can have a profound effect on the company's bottom line: inputs and their origin.

It took 20 years of negotiations to bring about the free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur countries.

Did you know the opportunity cost of paying your duties and taxes upfront can be as high as 10 percent? Capital tied up in these untimely expenses can end up costing a company millions of dollars each year in lost opportunities. But what if you could defer these costs? Supply chain execution leaders understand the importance of keeping their organization’s cash flow flexible and maintain trade compliance. But in order to remain compliant and qualify to defer these duties and taxes, companies must first have complete visibility into their supply chain, including a granular view of what goods are moving in and out of the bonded warehouse, and then be able to share this information with the EU customs agencies.

The easiest way to gain a completely transparent supply chain is to utilize current supply chain technology to help identify opportunities, automate processes, and document the movement of goods along the supply chain. The risks of failing to remain compliant in this increasingly complex global trade arena could be costly, especially with Brexit creating turbulence for bonded inventory. With consequences as extreme as losing your trading privileges, it’s essential to maintain visibility and documentation within your supply chain. You can start digitizing your supply chain by downloading our European Customs Filing and Bonded Warehouse Management brochure.

Global trade is exploding; supply chains in every industry continue to ramp-up movement of goods, maintain pace with trade regulations, and gain the competitive advantage by being the fastest, top-quality, and least expensive. Staying on top of your game means you have to focus on improving supply chain visibility while tightening costs and keeping up with consumer demand. To help companies, Amber Road’s subject matter experts provide best practices across the supply chain in a range of published articles from industry publications.

All is Not Quiet on the Western Front: Trade is Happening in Logistics Viewpoints

While most of the world is tuned-into the ongoing tariff battles between the US and China, European nations are using the opportunity to strengthen their relationship with China. Moreover, China President Xi’s orchestrated visits to EU leaders is putting pressure on US trade negotiators.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) facilitate access to international markets by lowering trade barriers and providing cost-saving advantages at the same time. Despite Asia's importance for European foreign trade, agreements with Asian countries are not progressing quickly. For example, agreements with Singapore concluded in 2014, South Korea in 2015, and Japan on February 1, 2019. This year, signatures on an agreement with Vietnam should allow it to move ahead. 

Amber Road has expanded its support for customs filing in Europe in conjunction with the launch of a new multi-country customs warehousing platform. These solutions address the need for companies to rapidly configure their supply chain given changes in trade regulations or business strategy and to fully digitize trade processes with direct self-filing to customs agencies.

The Amber Road GTM solution integrates Global Knowledge® trade content from over 170 countries with order-to-cash processes to ensure compliant cross-border trade.  The new multi-country customs warehousing solution delivers a single platform from which to take advantage of the cost savings and supply chain efficiencies when moving bonded and non-bonded inventory in and out of Europe.   

There was a time when the world was flat. The world had not yet been explored and global trade only accounted for a small portion of supply to most regions. Goods were mainly produced locally, or within a reasonable distance for them to be transported, at least before the 18^th century. This was especially true for perishable goods.  Supply chains linked consumers and suppliers to what they needed—as long as it was close, or they had the resources to bring it from far away. And it used to be that this link was just physical—moving a product from source to consumption.

Global trade has never been as ubiquitous as it is today. Technology of all kinds – from transportation tech like containerization, cargo aircraft, and supermax vessels all the way to the digital global e-commerce marketplace – facilitates an unprecedented flow of products around the world. At the same time, tariff and sanction shifts have become the main enemy of the supply chain manager, who relies on consistency and certainty to plan and execute global trade.

Next week's webinar on February 14 seeks to answer the question: How can we leverage technology to overcome emerging and enduring global supply chain management risks? Amber Road and AAEI conducted a survey of supply chain professionals involved with global trade in order to gain a clearer picture of the primary challenges facing the community, and how their companies are using technology to address these challenges.

Cintas Corporation, a leader in their industry, has launched Amber Road’s GTM solution suite. Once fully implemented, the solution will streamline Cintas’ import and export operations, by creating  real-time, collaborative and fully standardized digital trade activities. 

Supply chains are running at full steam in 2019 as some economies boom, while others take hits from obstacles to open commerce and trade. From protectionist trade policies to ever-increasing costs to product recall challenges, Amber Road’s subject-matter experts provide some revolutionary best practices in a range of industry publications to help companies keep the wheels of trade moving.