What is the single-line mission of a Global Trade Compliance Team?‍

A Global Trade Compliance Team’s main task is to ensure that a company’s international trade activities comply with applicable trade laws and regulations across different jurisdictions.

The team manages export controls, customs procedures, and trade licences to ensure that goods clear borders on time and that penalties stay off the balance sheet. Just as importantly, the team aims to anticipate regulatory changes early and brief commercial colleagues before problems arise.

‍Example: When a German medical-device maker ships dual-use imaging sensors to Singapore, the Global Trade Compliance Team obtains the correct EU export licence, screens the customer against restricted-party lists, and arranges pre-clearance with customs. Thanks to this work, the shipment reaches the hospital on schedule—avoiding both fines and contractual penalties.

Globalisation is in retreat. So why double down on Global Trade Compliance?‍

Businesses are still operating globally, so trade compliance remains crucial to remain operational. In my view, this is actually the ideal time to strengthen trade compliance.

“Never waste a good crisis” remains sound advice.

Disruptions expose weak points—and they give compliance professionals a chance to demonstrate commercial value, not just legal risk mitigation. By rethinking your team structure today, you decide where trade compliance can add the most value and how each specialist’s strengths can support your company’s evolving strategy.

Take company strategy, for example: trade specialists possess a deep understanding of the critical importance of country of origin. They manage import declarations, broker filings, and tariff codes—information that no other department sees. When this data is analysed, the team can anticipate business impact, recommend alternative sourcing, and alert finance to upcoming cost pressures—even before new tariffs are imposed or sanctions are announced.

‍Example: A review of origin data reveals that 40% of a key sub-assembly came from a region likely to face export controls. Based on the trade team’s early warning, procurement can secure an alternative supplier three months ahead of the actual imposition of controls—avoiding a production halt, revenue loss, and contractual penalties.

How do you keep the dots connected across your organisation when geopolitics shift overnight?‍

I work for a large, listed company with 72,000 colleagues worldwide. To keep such a complex organisation agile in turbulent times, we continuously invest in the connections between key functions and regions.

Our operating model functions as a three-way cockpit. Governmental Affairs scans the political horizon and maps key decision-makers; Procurement monitors supplier exposure and dependencies; and Trade Compliance translates both streams into concrete regulatory actions.

Weekly triage calls at both global and regional levels help turn headlines into probability scores and scenario planning. When needed, these interactions trigger rapid engagement with policymakers—or a strategic shift in sourcing.

When it comes to influencing strategy, how can trade policy be translated into numbers that management will act on?

Executives tend to engage more with concrete data than with abstract risks. Over a year ago, we identified and quantified the potential risks associated with another Trump administration. By modelling the impact of a 10% tariff on U.S. sales, for example, we were able to demonstrate a clear and significant potential hit to EBITDA. Because the risk was made measurable, management could act decisively—rather than listening to us speculate.

‍Which jurisdictions should the team focus on?

‍The U.S.–China conflict is unquestionably the most consequential for global trade, with the EU–Russia dynamic possibly a second.

But it would be a mistake to overlook other developments.

Recent conversations with our Governmental Affairs colleagues in Mexico and Canada, for example, revealed that both countries are positioning themselves for potential retaliatory actions—a trend that could impact North American supply chains just as significantly as U.S.–China tensions.

India is another key focus. While officially maintaining a neutral stance, it remains complex in export controls and customs. India should be considered carefully for strategic resourcing and compliance positioning.

As for the wider BRICS+¹ group, it is still too early to draw firm conclusions. We maintain a watching brief—and a shortlist of rapid-deploy compliance experts ready to act when signals turn into new rules.

‍How do you prepare a Trade Compliance team for the potentially tumultuous times ahead?‍

Start with structure: All relevant interfaces within the trade organization—Legal, Logistics, IT, Governmental Affairs—must be active and connected in real time. No one should be working in isolation. For example, if Legal is assessing new export-control rules while logistics is adjusting routes, but neither knows what the other is doing, the company risks compliance breaches or costly delays. Collaboration is the first pillar.

Adopt a crisis mindset: Rapid changes are imminent and likely to persist for years. This is not business as usual. Teams must be primed to move quickly and make decisions with in complete information. That means building habits and systems for agility.

‍Build the right team: The demand for global trade expertise will rise significantly in the coming years. Building trusted relationships with professionals worldwide is essential. That means showing up—at conferences, on LinkedIn, in panel slots—and following up with one-on-one coffee chats. Do not overlook regulators: many highly educated staff within authorities are open to new challenges and can bring valuable perspective when they transition into industry roles. And when personal networks reach their limits, a vetted head-hunter can help fill critical gaps—especially in niche jurisdictions where specialist knowledge is hard to find.

Prepare the team psychologically: The next few months will bring constant flux—requiring adaptation on a weekly, even daily basis. Many of us will need to scan the morning headlines to determine our compliance actions by the afternoon. Resilience and sustained productivity depend on a strong sense of shared purpose and morale.

Ensure that there is enough energy: Daily news scans, weekly risk sprints, and quarterly in-person off-sites help keep energy high and silos low. If you have not recently brought your team together for an in-person strategy session or even a team-building event, now is the time.

‍Which areas of trade compliance are of most strategic significance?‍

First, export controls have become a front-line tool in global trade policy—used by the United States on AI chips, by China on rare-earth minerals. Being ready for export controls means preparing very well-not just building expertise but also systems able to handle export control compliance at scale and across borders. For example, Chinese export control laws have explicit extraterritorial reach, allowing the Chinese government to implement changes swiftly and apply them beyond its borders. Is your IT infrastructure equipped to handle such scenarios? Do you have the regulatory expertise specific to China? Consider carefully whether this expertise should be located inside China or externally—especially in light of the Chinese anti-blocking statute. But export control is not solely a U.S.–China issue; Europe is also expected to implement similar measures in key sectors.

Second, “country of origin.” The significance of accurately determining the country of origin cannot be overstated. Retaliatory duties ride on origin, not shipment route: a circuit board that is “Country of Origin China” pays the surcharge even if it enters through Rotterdam. Many ERPs still carry legacy data; a master-data clean-up is crucial.

Example: A consumer-electronics firm discovered that mis-keyed origin data on one smartwatch line had cost €1.4 million in avoidable U.S. Section-301 duties. A three-week cleanse slashed that bill to zero in the next quarter.

‍Higher duties are already eroding margins. With tariffs expected to rise further, what can companies do to protect themselves from continued pressure?‍

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are one of the few tools that can eliminate these costs—sometimes overnight. An FTA can reduce a 10% tariff to zero if you can prove that the product genuinely “originates” in a partner country.

So, it is the “country of origin” concept again. That proof is highly technical: each agreement defines strict rules of origin (for example, a minimum regional value or specific manufacturing processes), and customs authorities can audit these claims years after import.

Companies that proactively map their supply chains, collect supplier declarations, and automate origin calculations can unlock immediate savings—while competitors continue paying full duty. The incentive is only increasing. Governments are signing new FTAs with politically aligned partners to stabilise supply chains, meaning more agreements are becoming available just as tariffs rise.

In short, mastering FTAs transforms trade compliance from a cost centre into a strategic safeguard for profitability.