You Just Never Know In Supply Chain Management
Will he or won’t he?
Well, he did.
This past weekend, the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, and 10% on goods from China, which will begin on February 4th. In addition, Canada will no longer be allowed the de minimis U.S. duty exemption for shipments under $800.
There are countless emails in my inbox this morning about this news, and countless posts on my LinkedIn feed about it too, with various analysts and pundits slicing and dicing the meaning and impact of it all.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The threat of a tariff war was known well before the U.S. presidential election, and it became almost a certainty once Donald Trump was re-elected in November. “Since the re-election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, he has been threatening to impose tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, Canada, the EU, and everywhere else,” I wrote back on December 6th under the heading, “A Tariff for You, and a Tariff for You, and a Tariff for You Too.”
So, here we are. Will these tariffs actually go into effect tomorrow as announced, or will they be withdrawn or delayed, as Trump did with the 25% tariffs he threatened to impose on goods from Columbia then backed off once the country agreed to accept deported migrants?
You just never know.
Which, I believe, is the perfect tagline for Supply Chain Management. It’s risky, it’s dynamic, and it’s a bit (or a lot) unpredictable.
“What can businesses do to help maintain strong supply chains, despite the unpredictability and the volatility in a global supply chain?”
I was asked that question by Richard Howells from SAP on his “The Future of Supply Chain” podcast last month. Here was my response:
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