The complexity of trade rules is growing daily and trade flows worth hundreds of billions of dollars are now impacted or at risk due to non-compliance with emerging requirements. The stakes are high: compliance safeguards business continuity, avoids supply chain disruption and can serve as a competitive advantage. It also mitigates the risks of penalties and reputational damage.
International trade management has become a strategic imperative in light of this shifting trade landscape. Trade management functions should be adequately resourced, empowered to coordinate across departments, and positioned to inform strategic decisions.
In collaboration with the World Economic Forum, our white paper provides a practical guide for navigating today’s trade challenges. It draws on insights from leading global companies through the World Economic Forum’s Trade Compliance Practitioners Group and professionals in trade compliance across the PwC Network.
Trade Compliance for Leadership
Navigating a Shifting Global Landscape
Four interconnected themes present challenges
Actions for business
Although there is no single path forward, the following four actions can help companies at the earlier stage of their international trade management journey to build a more resilient and future-ready trade function:
1. Assess Exposure
Evaluate exposure to shifts in the international trade landscape. This includes developing tools to assess vulnerability to geopolitical developments, regulatory changes, sustainability-related obligations and evolving technology requirements from customs authorities.
2. Improve Internal Collaboration
International trade management must be embedded across functions – such as legal, government affairs, sustainability, procurement, and IT – to enable early identification and effective management of compliance risks.
3. Benchmark maturity
Assessing your trade maturity to be at a minimalist, evolving, optimizing, or leading stage helps define realistic goals and prioritise investments in people, processes, and system.
4. Explore Tooling & Technology
Explore the tools and technologies available to support compliance and risk mitigation for international trade and use the key considerations in their procurement process. Whether through automating foundational tasks, centralising data, or adopting AI-enhanced tools, technology can help shift trade compliance from a reactive function to a proactive enabler of business continuity and strategic decision-making.
Contact us
Managing Partner, Customs and International Trade at PwC Worldtrade Management Services, PwC Singapore
Tel: +65 9750 7745
Carlos Garcia
Partner, Middle East Customs & International Trade, PwC Middle East
Tel: +971 56 682 0642
