A year ago, we asked whether global trade was entering an era of chaos. A year on, it looks less like chaos and more like a new, fragmented normal: the US has built a new, stacked tariff regime out of four separate legal authorities, the EU has ended its duty-free threshold for cheap parcels, and customs authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are quietly redefining what it means to import something legally.
In this episode:
The US’s new tariff regime, stacking four separate legal authorities, including fresh forced labour tariffs on sixty trading partners
The EU’s flat €3 customs duty on parcels under €150, and its impact on Shein, Temu and AliExpress
US Customs and Border Protection’s purge of millions of importer records
The EU’s Customs Data Hub and where European customs reform stands
WiseTech’s VerifyWise, built in part on its newly acquired FRDM.ai, and how it maps suppliers and minimises risk
Is this a genuinely new global trading order, or the same old protectionism with a new label on it?
Featuring: Stephen Tracey, General Manager for Customs Product Europe, WiseTech Global Cindy Allen, CEO, Trade Force Multiplier Roel Gevaers, Professor, University of Antwerp / Academic Director, Antwerp Management School
Chapters: 00:00 Coming up, cold open and introductions 03:00 Opening salvo: fragmentation, data as the new border, and economic security 07:00 Cindy: trade as a “team sport” 12:00 Cindy: this summer’s tariff changes, explained 17:00 Stephen: where fragmentation bites hardest for European traders 19:00 Stephen: the EU’s three euro parcel duty 21:00 Stephen: the Customs Data Hub and EU reform timeline 23:00 Stephen: where AI actually helps in customs 25:00 Stephen: VerifyWise, FRDM.ai and supplier risk 27:00 Cindy: are the forced labour tariffs genuine, or IEEPA relabelled? 31:00 Roel: Europe’s view on the forced labour tariffs, and risk to Shein and Temu 35:00 Roel: is there a precedent for this pace of change? 36:00 Roel: China’s response, and how the e-tailers adapted 40:00 Roel: the European carmakers analogy, and whether this is good policy 43:00 Roel: where next for the WTO and WCO? 44:00 Cindy: SME importers, refunds and the cost of compliance 48:00 Stephen: how CargoWise responds to a sudden rule change 51:00 Five years out: can trade stay connected as policy diverges? 55:00 Final thoughts: the one thing to get right next year 57:00 Thanks and goodbyes
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