How can you determine the impacts of changing tariffs on your products and services?

27/08/2018

family confused looking at products in grocery store

family confused looking at products in grocery store

Today the news is all about NAFTA as developments come in on the progress of reaching a pivotal new deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Such swift changes in trade regulations are leaving many cross-border businesses scratching their heads navigating the complexity and determining the impacts on their products and services.

So, just how can you determine the impacts of changing tariffs on your products and services?

We put this question to the experts in this month’s live #TradeElite Twitter chat and got an outstanding response over the course of the hour – including: insights into the impacts of new tariffs, sources for staying up to date on the latest developments, and steps to take to ensure your contingency plan can protect your business.

Highlights of the chat are below, and you can scroll through the #TradeElite hashtag to follow the entire chat.

Moderator:

Igor Chigrin, CITP (@winglobal_igor) Export & Import Consultant, Win Global Partners – Helping Local Businesses Become #Global by providing them with information, tools, training and coaching they need to start or expand their export and import business – Richmond Hill, ON

Panelists:

Audrey Ross (@TresAudrey) Logistics & Customs Specialist at Orchard International Inc., based in Toronto, ON

Doug Bruhnke (@DougBruhnke) Founder & CEO of Global Chamber (@GlobalChamber), based in Phoenix, Arizona

Darryl Anderson (@DarrylWavepoint) Manager of Marine, Multimodal Transport & Logistics Real Estate at Wave Point Consulting, based in Victoria, BC

Cheryl Berklich (@cherylberklich) Purchasing, Materials Management, Logistis & Recovery at TAL Group, based in the Greater Detroit Area, Michigan

What are the real impacts of today’s rapidly changing trade regulations and customs environment on cross-border businesses?

How do you stay up to speed with customs regulations and tariff changes? Where can you find the up-to-date information other than Google?

Any U.S. Government resources that keep track of tariffs and sanctions?

Is today’s cross-border business environment too complex for small and micro-businesses to get involved? What resources are out there for these groups other than those we just discussed?

If your supply chain is impacted, what are your next steps? Find new suppliers? Adapt products/services? Strategy impacts?

What do you need to think of in terms of communicating and preparing your customers for any impacts due to changing customs/tariffs?

Should you have a contingency plan to address possible future tariffs/customs changes? What does that look like?

Are we witnessing a “new normal” in terms of trade policy, regulations changes or will things settle down in the not-so-distant future?

Read the rest of the chat and join future discussions by following the #TradeElite hashtag. And stay tuned for the next #TradeElite chat, coming up Thursday, September 20 at 2:30-3:30PM ET, and if you haven’t yet, join us on Twitter at @FITTNews.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the contributing participants, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forum for International Trade Training.

About the author

Author: Pamela Hyatt

I am the Content Marketing Specialist for the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT). You can find some of my work on TradeReady.ca. My background is in copywriting, journalism and social media. My passion lies in connecting people to the stories that are most important to them.

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