TradeLane

First and foremost, I wanted to THANK our Customers and Colleagues around the world for the best year that Tradewin has ever had. 

Thanksgiving and the 4^th of July are my personal favorite holidays. Every year, I take off the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This tends to be one of the few times of the year when there are no Customs Audits, the budgets are done, and my phone is a little quieter. I have a tradition of getting lost in the woods with my dogs for hours during those days. It is quiet, the New England leaves are beautiful, and its gives me a chance to think about everything and nothing. The Germans have an elegant word for this… “Waldeinsamkeit”. Ok, maybe it isn’t that elegant, but it’s apt. 

As we work our way to the Holiday season and its frantic pace, don’t forget to take the time to pause, reflect, and think about what you have accomplished and what still needs to be accomplished. Then act. Never forget to act. 

If you need help along the way, give Tradewin a call. We are here to help.  

A friend of mine was over a few weeks ago and while relaxing on the deck, the topic of EU Agriculture Regulation came up. I typically try to confine my weekend leisure discussions to things like how the NY Giants are doing, but alas, it was July. My friend is also a professor whose expertise lies in biotech regulation for EU member States, so I might have been out of my league. In a simultaneous attempt to confuse, amaze and distract, I brought up the US Chicken tax, one of the most obscure, draconian pieces of Trade Regulation I could come up with that somehow explains why we aren’t all driving German Pickup Trucks.

Over the last two weeks, requests for training seminars and workshops have really accelerated.  It might be our charming speakers, the nice weather, or perhaps, unbeknownst to me of course, that they are serving sangria at lunch. Regardless of the reason I thought I would touch on some of the unsung benefits of HTS Classification training. 

If you are in compliance, at some point in your career you have asked an engineer for the type of screw in a machine. Maybe you asked what it was made out of, or the head type, and they looked at you quizzically and likely ignored your request. They may have given you the look that said… “Those regulatory people must be fun at parties...”  (We are, but only because the Tariff drives us to drink).  For those lucky people with apparel classification, we need to know the thread count… really we do.

As regional companies look to grow into multi-nationals in the never-ending search for new markets, an understanding of Global Trade Compliance becomes critical for several reasons.  One of the most obvious reasons is to reduce the risk of running afoul of local laws and regulations. Additionally, maintaining a consistent and reliable supply chain and taking advantage of various government programs such as Free Trade Agreements, Duty Drawback, Security Programs and other initiatives designed to benefit compliant importers and exporters speeds the supply chain and saves money. 

As companies expand into more and more markets, inevitably they reach a critical mass where the need to standardize compliance functions across multiple geographies, business units, and Customs regimes becomes apparent.  By “apparent,” we mean that you have done such a good job that you have been gifted compliance responsibilities for not 1 country, but 108. This is often a daunting task given the labyrinth of varying trade regulations. The first phase to this process is assessing the company’s current state compliance profile on a global basis, then moving to implement global frameworks to bring a level of consistency across the network.  Here are a few simple steps to get you started: