Article by: Rick Walker, Vice President – TradeInsights

There have been many changes in the last 12 months and with the new administration coming to power in less than two months, you can surely expect more changes relating to international trade. You’ve seen the headlines – possible new tariffs on the horizon, trade wars, etc. There will be a lot of new players on the field next year and it would be wise for all of us to prepare ourselves. No one knows exactly what these changes will entail, so planning and education are key. With that in mind, and with a growing economy, many companies are looking to hire staff, and many of the new hires will arrive with little or no experience in international trade. Now Hiring! That seems to be the phrase of the day (or maybe for the foreseeable future!). Great companies that three or four years ago saw job seekers lining up post-Covid to apply for openings find themselves still anxiously searching for additional staff.

Importers, exporters, and others along the supply chain are not exempt from this trend.

As hard as it was in the post-Covid years, if you were fortunate enough to find and hire good new employees, the hard part still remained. You have to train them! That’s easier said than done, and in many cases, companies are already working at capacity and proper training takes time. Let’s face it – training is tough, and it can take valuable time away from existing staff.

We have also seen in the last several years an increasing enforcement trend from Customs and Border Protection as well as other agencies. Understanding and complying with the myriads of government regulations is a daunting task, even for experienced industry workers.

This is where TradeInsights can help. Training we offer to groups or individuals include:
Tariff classification, valuation, the overall import process, Incoterms, import and export compliance, USMCA, export controls, routed transactions, and others. We offer general training classes such as our “Basics of Importing” and “Basics of Exporting” classes, and we can also design training specific to your individual needs. We are flexible with schedules and these training sessions can be held virtual, or in person at your facility.

Time to get ready!

If you need some assistance, or would like to discuss how we might help, please reach out to us at tradeinsights@valexander.com.