An international business consultant thinks we are at a pause in the trade war and businesses should take advantage of the lull to carefully examine their supply chains.
Writing for SupplyChain.com, Lou Longo, international consulting practice leader at Plante Moran, says now is the time for businesses to look at new international markets and test out new suppliers because more disruptions are almost certainly coming.
The United States, Mexico, and Canada Agreement (USMCA) is all but finalized, and phase 1 of the U.S.-China trade pact is in place and leading to a decrease in tariffs that were hiked just a few months ago. But Longo doesn’t expect things to remain calm for long.
“The era of trade disruption is likely far from over given the ascendancy of protectionist, nationalist policies globally,” Longo argues. “The U.S.-China ceasefire and the USMCA represent rare respites that businesses should pounce on soon to build their resilience and flexibility.”
Longo doesn’t see much evidence of resilience-building happening, though. A survey of participants at a recent webinar on China found 27% were not planning any changes to their supply chain while 41% were still assessing how to respond.
