After a summer of tariffs, the US administration scrapped the de minimis exemption, a rule that had allowed goods under $800 to ship duty-free. A 15 per cent tariff now applies, covering an estimated 1.36 billion parcels worth more than $64 billion last year, according to US Customs. For companies trading lower-value goods to the US, this hit is sharp and unavoidable.
And this isn’t an isolated move, but one which is part of a broader pattern of shifting trade rules, strained logistics, and supply chain volatility. The bigger challenge for businesses is taking a long-term view and adapting operations to stay competitive in line with changing rules, routes, and customer demands.
Plan for resilience, not quick fixes
Policy shifts often take effect mid-shipment, leaving carriers and customs officials scrambling to adjust. The result: delays, unexpected costs, and compliance risks. Larger organisations may respond by reshoring manufacturing or moving production closer to demand centres, but such strategies require time and capital. Quick fixes, meanwhile, can strain already fragile supply chains, creating new risks of error, fraud, or lost cargo.
The businesses that weather disruption best are those that take the long view – balancing cost with resilience, investing in visibility and authentication, and treating scenario planning as standard practice.
Digitalise for visibility and control
Building resilience isn’t about short-term fixes. It starts with solid foundations: reducing manual processes, digitising workflows, and paving the way for automation and predictive analytics. While digital transformation may feel like an expense, it pays for itself over time.
Just knowing where products are isn’t enough. Real-time tracking, tariff-exposure mapping, and predictive modelling help businesses anticipate disruption, reroute proactively, and calculate costs under new tariff rules.
Diversifying sourcing, establishing bonded warehouses or regional hubs, and pooling customs resources also enables businesses to position goods closer to consumers and manage compliance more efficiently.
Secure data to protect trust
With the spotlight on digitalisation, businesses must ensure that differing IT systems and partners communicate and collaborate effectively. And in a time where supply chain fraud, counterfeit goods and misdeclared values are drawing closer scrutiny from customs authorities, and presenting significant human and economic costs to consumers and businesses, securing data has never been more important.
Critically, this means combining interoperable data with blockchain-based ledgers and authentication tools to create robust safety protocols and audit trials that only share data with permissioned members. Building standardised practices and sharing a single ‘source of truth’ helps reduce vulnerabilities created by fragmented systems. This strengthens collaboration with trading partners, minimises bottlenecks, and ensures that when disruption takes place, users know when and where data was exposed to close the loop quickly.
Set scenario planning as standard
Tariff revisions, de minimis changes, and shifting trade rules should be treated as typical events, not rare exceptions. Businesses must prepare by updating playbooks regularly, adding tariff-adjustment clauses to contracts, and deploying dynamic pricing to weather the storm.
Technology alone won’t prevent disruption. Businesses still need operational buffers: safe stock levels, alternative transport routes, and diversified sourcing. With clear processes in place, delays can be managed quickly – minimising disruption and protecting margins.
As tariff regimes harden and supply chain shocks become the norm, resilience is not about enduring disruption – it’s about anticipating it. Businesses that embed strong foundations, secure data and scenario planning into everyday practice will not just survive the turbulence, but emerge stronger.
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