Welcome to Supply chain now. The voice of global supply chain. Supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today's critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and Kim Reuter with you here on supply chain now. Welcome to today's livestream. Hey, Kim, how you doing?

I'm doing wonderful. How are you?

I'm doing outstanding. Outstanding. We got fall weather moving in slowly but surely. Finally, temps are a little bit cooler. And today beyond the cool temps, we've got a cool show, folks. It's the buzz where every Monday at twelve noon eastern time we discuss a variety of news and developments across global supply chain, across global business. And Kim, we've got some big topics getting to here today. We're going to be talking about an update on the ILA USMX stalemate. We're going to be talking about weaponized supply chains, new tariffs on e commerce, upstarts and a whole bunch more. So folks, buckle up and get ready. We want to hear from you today as well. And Kim, other than what me and you have to share, we've got a great guest joining us in just a few minutes as we're going to be joined by Sofia Rivas, the host of the newly reinvigorated supply chain now in Espanol. So that is going to be quite a show. Kim, are you ready to dive in?

I am ready. Sofia is a firecracker. So this is going to be fantastic.

Hey, I think y'all two are going to be quite the one two punch. And I can't wait to learn from you both here today. So two things, folks, before we get going. First off, give us your take in the comments. Let us know where you're tuned in from and your perspective on the topics we're going to be talking about here today, such as our dear friend t squared up there in the Baltimore area says good Monday. Bring it on. A little southern emphasis there for that. Good, good supply chain management nourishment. Great to have you as always, t squared. So let us know where you are, let us know what you think. And secondly, if you enjoy the show today, we'd love for you to share it with a friend and your network. They'll be glad did. Okay, Kim, we were touching on weather a moment ago and we want to share. Probably the most important message today is to all of our friends out there impacted friends and family, colleagues, you name it, impacted with a hurricane that came through the, especially the southeast been stop you in your tracks type of imagery and video of all the destruction. We've got dear friends and family members still without power a couple days in. So here's the deal, though. Many of our audience members are very action oriented. And if you want to help, there's lots of great nonprofits out here. I happen to know, we happen to know american logistics aid network very well. We've had Kathy Fulton, their executive director, on with us sharing some of the great work they do really around the globe. And there, as you might imagine, are jumping into the disaster relief on needs related to the hurricane. So folks, if you're in position to help, go check out allenaid.org. we're dropping right there in the chat. They're a wonderful non profit, little goes to waste. And let's all help out if we can. Kim, any of your friends, family, colleagues.

Deeply affected to, thankfully, we have not been affected here in Virginia, or at least where I am. We're getting a lot of flooding as expected with all the rain up in the mountains. But fortunately, we have been lucky. And growing up in hurricane country and living in hurricane country now, you're never prepared when it hits and your home is devastated. They need all the help they can get.

I'm with you. I'm with you. It has just been mesmerizing. It really is. So, folks, if you can, again, if you can, first off, if you're suffering, your family are suffering. Thoughts, prayers certainly to you and your entire family. And if you're in position to help again, check out allenaid.org. and we appreciate that in advance. Hello, Maria tuned in again from beautiful Madrid. Great to see you. Looking forward to some of your perspective here today. All right. So moving right along on a much lighter note. So we published over the weekend, Kim, with that said, ever since coining this newsletter, with that said, I now catch how many times I must say this phrase, like eight times a day. Oh, gosh. So we celebrated National Coffee Day, which was yesterday, and International Coffee Day, which is Friday, October 4. We also included news and views and events, resources, tools, you name it, as we always do. So check it out. We'd love for you to let us know what you think of that. One other quick programming up before we get Kim. So Kim's had some travel abroad and we can't wait to dive in and get some more key takeaways. But really quick, speaking of resources, we've got a lively show tomorrow. Hey, when sustainability comes up in your supply chain discussions, does the conversation always seem to touch on the same tired, non productive topics? Well, if so, join me tomorrow, October 1, for a live stream with my friends at Spark 360 for real solutions that work well when it comes to driving sustainability gains in your organization. And if you can't make the live session, hey, register with the link that we're sharing there in the chat, and you'll get a copy of the on demand version once we're done with the live show. Okay, as promised, we got Kim in action right here. Tim Warner, rock and roll star, right here. And Kim, let me see if I get this right here. Before we bring in Safiya, I want to talk about your trip to Bangkok, Thailandhouse, where you noted, and there's a number of things, I think, in the fourth WCA e commerce annual conference 2024. Now, I can only imagine Kim, the e commerce, the supply chain, just the business rock and roll stars that were there talking about probably some of the biggest issues of the day, what some of your key takeaways from all those conversations and what you presented all.

So WCA is a great organization. They focus on small, medium, freight forwarders and brokers worldwide, and it's a great organization because of the sense of community. Like, everybody is there to help each other, which is really amazing. And there's a lot of networks and tentacles that are reaching worldwide. And it was a great organization. What we talked about a lot and what we saw is how can these small, medium freight forwarders and brokers play in the e commerce space. We talked a little bit about what DP world when we spoke to them last week, and there is a ton of opportunity. You do not have to be a huge freight forwarder and broker. You don't have to take on, you know, the top fives of the world to be successful in the e commerce supply chain space. So we talked a lot about how can smaller and medium sized freight forwarders and brokers really benefit and add value in the e commerce space.

I love it. I bet there were some creative, innovative discussions there to be had. Your topic that you spoke on again, look at this great shot. I love the coloring, so bright, and it's like inviting, beautiful.

They did such an amazing job. And the gentleman sitting right in front of me, you see the back of his head, that's David Yocom, that's the founder of the WCA. And so they did a gorgeous job. WC in general just does a beautiful job. But it was a great event and, you know, a lot of what people were bringing into it is how in my country, we learned a lot about other countries. I'm gonna be honest, I was a little naive. Not everybody's automated. Like, it didn't quite hit me that not every country out there is automated. There's still manual manifest clearances that are happening, which kind of blows me away a little bit. So we learned a lot about what's happening in other countries and how these changes, especially with e commerce, is really impacting. And we're going to talk a little bit about that coming up here soon, too. But yeah, it's really shocking just to see just how much more development there is in the space that's available.

I'm with you. I'm with you. It sounds like a wonderful time. I look forward to diving in deeper after the show, maybe on the food these nights, visits. Oh, I can only imagine.

Well, you know how business travel is. You get there and you're just like, work, work, work.

Got the blinders on, dialed in. Love it. Well, hey, folks, if you want to learn more about WCA, we have dropped the link there, I believe, to the organization. We also dropped the link to a spark 360 event. That's tomorrow. And I bet if I go a little bit further upstream, I'll find a link to. With that said, that was shared on the front end as well as allenaid.org dot. Well, Kim, appreciate you sharing. I look forward to hearing a debrief of your next keynote session. Lots to talk about still as it relates to automation. I know everyone hears a lot about that, but gosh, we are still the tip of iceberg and all the way that we can empower the human element to just chase after much more fulfilling and do better. So stay tuned. Okay. Speaking of staying tuned, we've got a great show here today. Some big topics we're going to talk about, but before we get into them, I want to introduce a dear friend also supply chain dynamo, just like him. And a wonderful business leaders welcome in Sofia Rivas, host and CEO with supply chain now in Espanol. Sofia, how are you doing?

I'm doing awesome. How is everyone?

We're doing outstanding. I'm doing a little bit better now. I tell you, I've got the one two punch. Got Kim and Sofia, we got some big topics and no one pulls any punches. So I'm looking forward to a great conversation. But before we get there, Kim and Sofia, let's talk coffee just for a second, right? Just for a second. You know, it's funny. Back a couple years ago, maybe ten years ago. You could ask anybody. Hey, what's your favorite coffee? Everybody drank coffee. These days, as I've learned, it seems like there's a few less people drinking coffee. Some opt for tea or whatever, but for me, coffee and caffeine is how we get business done. Right? Going back to what Kim was saying, got the focus, got the blinders on. Give me a cup of coffee. We're gonna knock it out. So with the national Coffee day and the upcoming international Coffee Day, I wanna ask both of y'all one of your favorite coffees. And let's start with you, Sofia. What's one of your favorite coffees out there?

Well, I don't know if you're asking a particular brand or style, but if it's a style, either one.

No wrong answers. No wrong answer, Sofia.

If it's a style, I'll always get a double espresso, just with a little bit of sugar or. Okay, if I'm feeling like I want a larger copy that lasts more during the day, I'll get a cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. That's how I'll get it. Oh, and if you didn't know, a cappuccino already has two shots. So I'll be really caffeinated by the time I finish that coffee.

I'd like to see that. You're always so cool, calm, and collected. Right. So I'd love to see you after a couple of those espresso shots. All right, Kim, same question to you. What coffee makes you go, I'm a.

Cappuccino drinker as well. And I love Lavazza italian coffee beans that. Yeah, yeah. If you're a cappuccino drinker, you're a Lavazza fan. I have a super automatic espresso maker that I bought many years ago. I know. And people make fun of it when they come to my house. They're like. And then I make them a cup of coffee. And Eric, we seem vitals, and they're like, too big. I want this. Yeah.

Yeah.

You have one too, don't you, Sofia?

No, I have the nespresso one for virtual. And sometimes we can get the lavazza coffee capsule.

The pod.

So good.

I feel so inadequate with my coffee equipment. Kim and Sofia.

I gotta upgrade.

Yeah, you need to upgrade.

I gotta upgrade. But speaking of think, this is Amanda. Give me all the coffee supplacha now. Runs on coffee. Normal day, I drink my coffee black. I think she meant to say, if I go to Starbucks, is venti non fat latte with extra shots, that is. Amanda, you get extra Kurak Jose, and we all need the extra shot.

Yeah, if you can handle it.

That's right. That's right. You don't need to have downtime, right? That's what you're saying. Korak Jose says nothing beats a well made turkish coffee with mastic for me. Plus, I can read the future in it. I bet you can. You do that good without the coffee. I'm going to add one more thing. And Alex, I'll grab your comment in just a second. Let's see here. I've got pictures. I've got pictures. So one of you, we got lots of favorite coffee brands. So this is a really cool organization called thrive farmers. They really invest in coffee growers around the world to help them make it more sustainably and help them make the money they should be making. Very frankly, they say it much more eloquently than I do. But I love this night shift coffee. It's a darker roast, so it'll definitely keep you going. But even better, check this out. They tell the story of the growers behind each of their brands. And I know there's other coffee companies that do that, but I love this because it truly is about these wonderful people that get really the whole world going with what they grow and cultivate and, you know, deliver to the rest of us. So check that out. I think we're dropping a link, I think to that. Okay, so, Kim and Sofia, one more thing. Welcome in, Alex, great to see you. Now, Alex says, my name is Christian Alex Ivey, active duty Navy musician, looking to join the supply chain world in four years when I retire. Air quotes from the Navy. Super thankful to supply chain now. Well, welcome, Alex. Appreciate what you do. Tell us the type of music you play and we look forward to helping support your ongoing professional development and eventually your transition from the military. Thank you for your service to the civilian supply chain world. So great to have you here today. Okay. I wish we could stay on the up and up and light positive topics, but Kim and Sofia, that's not how we do it in global supply chain. We got to tackle all stories and developments, very frankly. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to unpack the latest and there hasn't been a whole bunch of movement, but make sure everyone is with this level setting on this ILA Us MX stalemate. And then I can't wait to get both of y'all's comments on what's playing out here. So as reported here, soon to be here by our friends at CNN. No progress, unfortunately, has been made in the standoff between the International Longshoremen's Association, La. You'll hear that a lot out there, and the United States Maritime alliance, the USMX, the current labor deal. Well, it expires at midnight tonight. That's right just around the corner. And assuming no breakthrough takes place today, the ILA is ready to go on strike at 1201 at three dozen facilities across 14 different port authorities. Now, the White House has not requested and is not expected to pursue the 80 day cooling off period that it has as an option. If a strike does indeed take place. It'd be the first such strike since 1977. And according to. You, got a variety of impact figures out there. According to Oxford Economics. Sounds pretty smart to me. It would cost the us economy up to 7.5 billion the b dollars for every week that it would continue. One of the biggest snags in the deal is pay raises. As you might expect, it's usually a big snag in labor negotiations. Now, the ILA reportedly wants a 77% raise for its members through the life of the deal. The USMX says they've offered 40% thus far. Now, the ILA hasn't released that figure. That's what insiders are reporting. Some of the products likely to be affected in any strike, especially one that lasts more than a few days. Fruits like bananas and cherry. I didn't know that bananas were the most popular fruit in the US. Had no idea. Adult beverages stop the press. Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my God.

Food manufacturing inputs like cocoa and sugar. Furniture and appliances. And autos, as a port of Baltimore handles the largest volume auto imports. There's a lot of autos that come through state of Georgia, too. The LA has indeed pledged. It's kind of cool. Has pledged to continue handling military cargo during any potential strike. Thank you. More than 200 business groups have sent a request to the White House last week asking the Biden administration to step in and prevent a strike. However, what I said a minute ago, White House says they aren't even considering the cooling off period that the Taft Hartley act provides for. So as Jake Barr says, prepare for collision. I think full steam ahead. Kim, your thoughts on what we're seeing here develop and I. What we're likely to face here really soon.

Yeah. So you called it out. We haven't had a strike like this in almost 50 years. Right. For. To actually. For the ILA to actually walk out and shut down a port has not happened in a really long time. I am still skeptical that they actually will walk out and shut down the port. There's a lot at stake if they do that and they start to open some doors to things that can't be taken back if they do that. I mean, there is always an option for the national Guard to run a portland. There's some options if they decide to go all the way there. So we're going to have to wait and see. We are already seeing steamship lines tacking on strike fees onto ocean freight, going into these ports to try to cover some of the extenuating costs it's going to take to move this freight. And that's been an interesting play. That's not something that I've seen happen before either. So that's also been an interesting development is seeing how the steamship lines are trying to pass some of these costs on to the importers.

Excellent comments there. And unfortunately, kind of like what you're implying. The question or the topics have shifted from is there going to be a strike? To how long will the strike last? Sofia, your thoughts on what we're seeing here with this development so far.

They said around 45,000 workers are going to go on strike from tomorrow onwards. And there's an interesting analysis from the us chambers of commerce that says that a Ford like New York, if it's shut down for one day, the losses are between $641 million per day. So that's what's at stake. And additionally to that, I know we're talking about how the salaries are being negotiated and that's one of the primary goals of the ILA, to solve this or renew this new contract with USMX. But another thing is what they're saying, and I don't know if we're gonna dive into that, but they are against automation imports, especially in Kranese. And that's one part that they're fighting against, I think mainly because obviously imminent passure of what are they going to do with the workers that are going to be replaced by that automation, which should not necessarily be the case, but then there should be a reskilling and redefinition of their work and their role at port.

Appreciate you sharing that. And I love the point you wrapped on at the end of your response. And I want to circle back with both of you all on automation and our ports and the opportunities there. You know, it's interesting, Kim kind of tied it back to what you opened up some of your key takeaways, you know, various countries around the world, because it takes the world for global supply chain take place. Some folks are really advanced in this area of automation. Other folks are more advanced in this area. Well, what we have found, and if you ever toured ports, you'll be fascinated. But in the states, not every port, but a lot of ports have tremendous automation opportunities as well as information sharing with all the parties. To Safiya's point, that is a concern for any labor union, of course. Any additional thoughts, Kim, when you're in about automation and how some still look at it as a tremendous threat if not applied appropriately, maybe you will always need humans.

I don't care how much technology we need, and I know that is always the fear. When we started to have automation, you know, we saw it a lot when I worked at Amazon and adding automation to fcs because now FC workers feel like they're going to be displaced. We see automation in customer service now, right, with chatbots and automated answers and things like that. So technology is displacing humans, but that doesn't mean that they're necessarily going to have to be out of work and their jobs may shift, their responsibilities may shift the benefits of technology, and we seem to forget these, is that technology can work twenty four seven, a human cannot. And so we get a lot of benefits by, you know, being able to add automation to the port, so being able to turn ships faster, move more cargo. So there's a lot of benefits to automation, but we do need to step away from this. Like one person loses their job for every piece of automation because it's not always the case.

Excellent point, Kim, and I'll just add two quick thoughts before I give you the last word. Sofia. Automation has been replacing certain human jobs since the beginning of time, right? That's why we have technology. However, as we like to say every single time, if any of our fellow humans out there, if you like learning, raise your hand and volunteering and step new rules. Technology is an open door for tremendous opportunities. And then secondly, I know all three of us are big continuous improvement believers and have been involved in plenty of those efforts and led them. There's always room for opportunity. And what we can't do is prevent our economic competitive advantages in our ports by wanting to protect the status quo. We all want jobs and we want to take care of all those folks around the world that make supply chain happens. But we can't turn a blind eye to common sense, in my view, to common sense automation anywhere. Sofia, your final word on this topic?

Yeah, no, I completely agree with what you're saying, Scott. And what Kim mentioned about we need to stop or we need to start looking at our automation differently. I think whenever we pitch automation, we shouldn't be saying, oh, this would be equivalent to x amount of people. Why do we keep pitching like this? So that our project is accepted and implemented. I think, okay, this will be the initial saving, but then how will these make our people more productive? Right? Rephrasing and redefining with new KPI's rather than saying how many salaries am I going to see?

That's an excellent call out. And I think, can we all agree that just like technology has been doing things since the beginning of time, leaders have been botching change and continuous improvement and business, you know, since the beginning of time as well. It is how we couch it and talk about it and the accurate narrative that we build out there. So it's a great call out. Sofia. Good stuff. Kim and Sofia wish we could talk about this big story for the rest of the hour, but where I'm hoping, maybe naively, that there is some kind of divine intervention and everyone gets, you know, it's a grand compromise. We'll see.

Just quick note, I don't know if Amanda can drop the link, but I shared an analysis from a spanish speaking mega theme in logistics. So for our folks that speak Spanish or not but want to google translate, it's a good analysis on all that has happened around this topic.

So love it. And I think we should be able to drop that link. No problem. Great call out. Okay, moving right along, our next item here today, let's talk about, gosh, supply chain weaponization as reported here by the Wall Street Journal. You ever have a pager back in the day? I think I had a pager for about three days back in the day for nothing. But, my friends, why do we need that back in the day? Anyway, kidding aside, supply chain weaponization as reported here by the Wall Street Journal, thousands of electronic pagers, as many of you all may have seen, were detonated in a planned attack on Hezbollah members last week. Now, it's important to note, just like the last topic, we're not getting political, but we want to focus more on a more agnostic but really still important topic of supply chain weaponization. Because this has got some parallels across industry that touch on no shortage of important issues that any supply chain leader faces and practitioner faces. The traceability of the supply chain behind this attack still remains murky as of now. But to some extent that is to be expected. Because in some cases, Sofia and Kim, some cases, the nature of the electronics manufacturing industry, like other sectors, also the ecosystem can be a bit murky. You've got tons of production outsourcing taking place. And as Rob Handfield, a supply chain management professor at NC State University, Go Wolfpack and said, he contributed this quote to this piece. Quote, there's multiple distributors, there's multiple contract manufacturers, there's multiple boards, there's multiple locations. It's just a really confusing array of people. And it can certainly be a deep, wide and darken ecosystem. I'm not just picking all the electronics anywhere, many, many sectors, right. And all that present a prime opportunity that can be taken advantage of by any bad actors. So Sofia, supply chain weaponization and this story, or in a broader sense, any comments of yours there?

First, I would like to say it's not fair for the word supply chain to be there in the headline.

Okay, excellent point.

I just think it's easy to blame it on the holistic view of all the components there. But I think at the very end, it's all about reminding us how to be more focused on security and additionally to have more transparency and visibility. I think that's the like that leads the situation that happened, which is very tragic. And we, I think no one wants it to happen again. It's a reminder of we need to be even more transparent and more visible among us. Because I think especially in the technology and hardware industry, we keep secret from each other because why? Because we want to be the first to launch x type of technology. We want to get ahead of the curve and for our product to be purchased by people first. And that puts blind into our supply chain. Even people can only just be tier one. And beyond that, it's harder. So I think this is an opportunity to be more transparent. And I would quote Star Trek, quote here, we often fear what we do not understand. Our best defense is knowledge. And I want to share that because it talks about if we share knowledge with others, then we won't have to fear anymore. So that's my invitation for Sofia.

I love that and love whenever Star Trek makes into any conversation here, I might just be a Star Trekkie. I know our best defense is knowledge. To kind of use the second half of that, quote, love that. And also can come to you next is transparency. And I know folks are probably tired of hearing that word said, but it is so critically important because any ecosystem, any supply chain, organization, all it takes is one supplier or node kind of in your blind spot that not only can lead to bad things for organization or allow others to take advantage of, and whether they use it for violent attacks or cyber this Saturday. Other no good things come out of that. But Kim, going back to, ill use the phrase not to make anybody mad, but supply chain weaponization, this story, what are your thoughts here?

So as someone who lived through 911 working in the supply chain industry, to me that it was the biggest supply chain weaponization that we've ever seen. And, you know, not only the lives that we lost, but the strategic selection of the planes because they were long distance cross country planes and the fuel, we also lost our New York customs office and a lot of our customs officers in that attack. So for me, we've been fighting weaponizing the supply chain since 911. And it's been an ongoing issue. I think we've gotten a little bit relaxed with it, especially during COVID because we just had so many other things to worry about. But we still have a serious issue with weaponizing our supply chain and also our food supply chain can also be weaponized. And that is something, a very hot topic that's being discussed today or in the market today as well, is how do we protect our food supply chain? We import so much of our food now almost unwittingly, and that makes it susceptible.

Appreciate your perspective here. Kind of pick up on what you were sharing there, Kim, and again, apolitical here, but I bet you all have seen these reports and some of the concerns that the us government has in terms of other countries that have access to critical information in our cranes, in our ports. And there's not full visibility on exactly full accuracy of that, but also the full extent, if that is the case and what it could do to stymie any kind of activity, especially in a contingency or, goodness gracious, hopefully never. But there's some sort of geopolitical where we try to bring the supply chain to bear to take action. So lots of concerns. Sofia, I like your point about everyone's attaching anything supply chain in some cases, maybe not here, I don't know, but because that's been a hot topic in recent years. But Kim, also, to your point, the broader, whatever you call it, the broader action that's in play here has been going on for some time, and I think it's becoming more dangerous because technology's gotten cheaper. I mean, just think about all the democratization that we take advantage of to further supply chains, right. And be more innovative and successful. Well, bad actors, unfortunately have access to other same technologies going to keep our finger on the polls. I think it's healthy that supply chain leaders and practitioners are having this discussion because of the massive risks out there. And folks, y'all let us know what you think. We're dropping a link there to the Wall Street Journal article and let us know what you think. Sofia and Kim, appreciate y'all's perspective there. Okay, somewhat of a lighter note, we're going to shift over to trade talk, right? E commerce, retail supply chains, I think one of our favorites, all three of us here, and Amanda and even Trisha, I think behind the scenes, let's talk about tariffs. So I think I've got a visual here. And folks, by the way, if you're listening to the replay of this, don't forget you can tune in live and see the images and see some of the comments, whether it's ours or from the audience, and be a part of live discussion every Monday at twelve new eastern time. All right, so I digress there. As reported here, though, by Inc. Magazine, the White House announced new tariffs on imported goods from China last week, ranging, get this, from 7.5% to a hundred percent on items such as EV's, solar panels, steel, aluminum. But all of us have heard plenty of industry and trade and demand talk and all those things, including where production shifts are taking place. Right? Also included, though, in this new trade policy. And this is going to make my 10th grader, this might break her heart a little bit, right? Because like the rest of us, she's on a budget. The de minimis tax free trade exception was tightened up as part of this new policy, this announcement from the White House. Now, the loophole has allowed packages valued at $800 or less to ship to us destinations without any customs duties. And loophole. It's been in place for decades. But in recent years, get this, folks. In recent years, many foreign based e commerce players have been using it extensively. Shine, Timu Alibaba and others. 140 million parcels were exempted from customs duties via de minimis ten years ago, right? So write that number down. 140 million parcels. That number went up over a billion parcels in 2023, less than ten years ago. Now, the Biden administration announced a series of trade policies. From what we've seen, they're not just lowering that from 800 to some other arbitrary figure, but rather they're trying to execute a series of trade policies that are expected to cut these exception numbers back considerably, from a billion to whatever their target is. So, Kim, while I can't wait to hear both of you all weigh in here with your e commerce and retail supply chain leadership background, I can't wait to hear what you think of this move here.

So we're doubling down on a fail. Right. So the whole reason we saw this big surge in de minimis shipping is because of the additional tariffs that we put on all of our products, what, four or five years ago, and we continue to keep those. Right. So that's what actually drove that initial surge of direct to consumer shipping. First of all, it was going on way before Amazon was doing direct to consumer and taking advantage of the de minimis for decades before we saw the surge. And that's great. They were doing it and customers loved it. Right. But we saw this huge surge because we saw these additional duties and taxes and importers are trying to get around it. So now we're just double downing on the thing that we did that caused the problem. So what I think is that if we got rid of these tariffs that we put in five years ago, that again, in my opinion, is what's been driving this inflation that we can't get out from under, we would see the de minimis start to drop again because it is expensive to ship a de minimis package. It does take longer. There are advantages to going back to how we ship packages in the past. So that is what's continuing to drive it. And the more we keep taxing it, the more we're just going to see it happening.

Lots of good stuff there. Kim, Sofia, what are your thoughts?

So today I learned that the loophole in the cherubs is called the minimum. And it's hard to say.

Yes, it is.

But. So I've been following these temu and Shane news for I think over like a year because I don't know if you remember, but there was an Eric cargo capacity issue. Mainly it's because the moon chain were shipping all these single order packages by air and the capacity was not keeping up. So that's why mainly it was taking that long for your orders to finally arrive. Right. Because I think if there was a poll of people that say, why do you buy crucian if it's so cheap? And it might not be sustainable, it might hinder the environment. And they say, yeah, but they ship it by ship. Right? That's why it takes six weeks for it to arrive to my house. But it actually isn't. It's shipped by air, but it takes longer because there's no air capacity for it. Okay, so that's one myth that consumers think about. Shane and stem. What do I think about increasing tariffs? I think, yes, it is a failure that they try to fix, but I also think it's interesting and an opportunity to drive consumer behavior to more sustainable practice. Okay. So in my work, I just think that the way in which they're doing it might do exactly the opposite.

Excellent point. You know, I would just add, Kim and Sofia, I am no economist, and macroeconomics bit me more times as I tried to pass that in college back in the day. So I'm not going to share the the economist take on tariffs, however, just the pricing and repricing. Having done that in when I was in the manufacturing world, oh my gosh, all the time. And some of it is self imposed, right. Organizations set their own prices, but, man, when third parties come in and then you got to go back and refigure out all the variables. Oh my gosh, what a pain that can be at time. So we shall see. Kim, your final word. One other thing you mentioned, I don't think you said this in your response, but we were talking pre show about just how effective these new trade policies would be at doing what they are setting out to do, which is kind of rein in will it be successful or do you think it's a wild goose chase?

It's a wild goose chase, but we've seen it. So the goal is to reduce reliance on foreign products. That's what we're trying to accomplish by putting these tariffs in place. The challenge is that 90% of the products consumed in the United States today come from China. Not that they just come from a different country. They actually specifically come from China. That's a huge shift. And we're doing it in a way that the cost rolls downhill. Right. So those tariffs get tacked onto the product costs, where the logistics cost, and it goes right on down to the shelf where the person, you know, grabs the product. Right. There's no executive. Walmart is taking a 25% hit in their bonus. I'm telling you right now at Target Amazon, they're not doing it. So the consumer is paying for it. So that's why I don't think that this is worth, the other thing that we're seeing is we're seeing them tariff on raw materials, steel, aluminum, things that we need for manufacturing here in the United States because I don't think we're a big aluminum manufacturer much anymore, as I understand it. So we're hurting our manufacturing by doing this as well. And then, of course, there's trade relations, right? Because now that we've upset our trade partner, we're hurting our farmers, our grain farmers, our pork farmers, who solve a majority of their product to overseas countries. So in a nutshell, world trade and global trade is highly complex, and you can't tickle this tiger over here and not expect to have some reaction over here.

Yes. No tickling tigers, folks.

No tickling tigers.

One last thought here, and I think we're kindred spirits here. I think. And if you all disagree, of course, let us know. But the uniqueness of the north american trade region, you know, Canada, US, and MexicO, that USMCA, that's brought a lot of goodness to try to make it less friction of the trade between. We've got tremendous opportunities. I'm hoping that the governments of all three can continue their hands on, in a good way, collaboration to strengthen the competitive advantage of the entire north american region. And we use that as we need to in these global trade standoffs, discussions, negotiations, whatever you want to call it. Okay, Sofia and Kim, we got to get to a couple more things here before we wrap because both of y'all are doing some incredible things. We kind of touched on some of the things Kim's doing out there, out in Bangkok. Man, I am so jealous. I hope to go sometime soon. You and Jenny Froome, many others have.

Talked about during hot. I will say this. It was. We did not go during. We went on the off season. Okay, so it was exceptionally hot. I just had to tell you how hot it was. And from a girl from the south, right? Virginia, right. And humidity, like, no problem. I got the hair thing sorted. Oh, no. Thailand is a whole other level of hot that you need to be prepared when you go there for that.

Thailand Q.

That's right. Hey, you know, we love our weather updates around here as a blache. Now, speaking of hot, man, we got a hot new project that Sofia is leading. Check this out, folks. New branding, new show, relaunch, you name it. Supply chain now in Espanol. So if folks, if you've been in no, been part of our global community for quite some time, you'll know that we are already, what, three or four dozen episodes deep with supply chain now in Espanol. However, we knew it needed a bold new direction and vision. And relaunch and Sofia Rivas, you are stepping in and leading that. And we're going to touch on leaves episode in a minute. But quick question for you. What can our audience come to expect with the new supply chain now in Espanol?

Well, first, it has been quite a journey and I think God and previously, like, I don't know, true time being like Sofia, you should be in this project. You should read this project like in an inception in my mind and finally, it worked, right? And if we have put a lot of love and energy to this project, first we gonna be more bold and it's gonna focus more on stories that have not been told before, specifically from people that their first language is Spanish, which not necessarily means they are physically, I don't know, in Latin America or in Spain, but they could be anywhere around the world. But yeah, they speak Spanish and they want to tell their story. So that's mainly what we want to focus on. And a lot of highlighting startups in supply chain and logistics, especially in Latin America, which I think have not had enough spotlight before. I think most of these big companies and unicorn companies that have been featured in other programs of the supply chain now family and also other podcasts have been mainly focused in North America and also in Europe. So now you'll get to know what's going on in Latin America. And, yeah, so we've done a couple of things already. If you have not followed our web page and our LinkedIn page, we had done a live stream in which we explain the direction of the podcast. If you do not speak Spanish, but you want to learn, as Scott has promised in the last five years, you can see the recap of that live and it's subtitle in English. So that's what we want to do. So for people to not feel alienated from all of our summaries will have subtitles in English. Thank God, AI, because at the beginning I thought I would have to add them myself, but no.

Oh, gosh.

Oh, no.

I'm glad we could automate that. Kim and Sofia. And one last blurb, this first episode of the relaunch, right?

Yeah.

And I think Felipe is in the audience really quick. Safiya, what was one of your favorite parts of this conversation, or was something that folks should look for in this conversation?

So this is our first episode being released tomorrow, and it's called powerful change with artificial intelligence. That's the translation. And if you don't know Felipe Hernandez, he's from Colombia. He has a company called Datup, and it's all focused on AI and how it can be applied to supply chain and logistics processes such as demand forecasting. If you do not follow him, I don't know what you're doing. So go follow him. He's a LinkedIn top voice. He has thousands of followers. He shares a lot of insights from the industry. He's also having a survey on what is going on in Latin America in startups and innovation and technology. So if you are in Latin America, go feel that therapy, because we want to know the state of the industry, right?

That's right.

And that's our intro video, something I didn't mention.

Okay.

We changed the intro video for our episodes, and today we shared it to the world so that you can see it ahead of time. It has cute music there to energize you before you get into the topic.

Love it. Love it. When, as Amanda said, it was meant to be. So excited to have you on board. See the relaunch tomorrow. So, yeah, divine intervention. Hopefully it's at play. Well, I know it's at play in all kinds of conversations around the globe.

There's no hopefully in my team. Andrea and I, we do things.

Wait, one last thing. One last thing for our shift gears here is big thanks to Andrea, right, who is leading production, executive producer, all kinds of stuff, kind of behind the scenes. I loved the two of you all on that live stream kind of announcing things.

She's like right next to me, but she not camera ready. So wait for me.

We'll just say look.

And in case, you know, we're twins. So in everything we do, we come together and we're bringing her to supply chain. So we're very love it.

We are too. Great to have you here. Appreciate your perspective and expertise. And I what you're doing with supply chain now in Espanol speaking. Appreciate. You know, Kim, you and I have had a good fortune of having all kinds of really good shows over the last few months. Right. Lots of good shows. Really have enjoyed your expertise and your experience and your sense of humor because it's been on full, full display for anyone to see right now this past week. Last week we had a great episode with a couple of executive leaders, as you mentioned before with DP World. And we talked a lot, a lot of different things. But in particular, a key thing was how small and medium size businesses can take advantage of innovative approaches and technologies when it comes to logistics. What were a couple of your key takeaways there, Kim?

The biggest takeaway for me was that theres opportunity for small medium businesses to run a supply chain as efficiently, if not even more efficiently than the big guys. And there are solutions out there for you, and there are companies that are looking to partner with you. DP World is one of them. And they have solutions that are focusing just on small medium sized freight forwarders, small medium sized businesses, importers, exporters, that will enable them to get those cost efficiencies that typically are hard for you to get unless you're an Amazon Walmart target kind of player.

Yep.

So the message from that I got from deeper world is that there's solutions out there. My message, because I work with a lot of small medium businesses anyway, is that yes, you can compete. You just have to go find the right solutions for yourself. So don't give up. You can play and be just as efficient and be just as profitable as the big guys in supply chain now these days because of the solutions that are out there.

Oh, well said, Kim. A lot of good stuff there. And folks, if you missed that conversation, you got to go check it out. We're including a link there. You can register. You get the on demand replay. That's right. Just like so. Yeah, right down there, y'all check it out. There's something for a lot of folks that conversations Kim mentioned, a couple other things I picked out there. Just a compliment of what you shared. Looking at total costs, you're really putting a big spotlight on some of the hidden costs that a lot of organizations, supply chain organizations can have going to your front line, asking them the questions because oftentimes they'll know best. Going to the gimbal. That's the reason why that's a big important thing. There's one other thing I was going to mention here. Transparency. Sofia, going back to your earlier point, that was a big theme throughout that conversation as well as. So I'm more a big big brother fan, right? A reality show me the man that we've been watching it since the first season. And of course its tagline could be a tagline for logistics or global supply chain. Expect the unexpected.

Oh yeah.

You got to write constant contingency planning, modeling, scenario, you name it. Whole nine yards. Right? Scenario, simulations and stuff. But great conversation, folks. Check it out. We got link as we mentioned and let us know what you think. All right, one more point here from Alex. He was in Cartagena, Columbia last month with our navy band. Part of continuing promise 2024. Beautiful place and beautiful people. Anthony, Felipe was in Colombia. What part you happen to know what part of Colombia, Felipe? And if not, I'll put you on spot. Safiya knows Colombia is a big country. But yeah.

Felipe, see Bogota, okay.

Bokuta.

But it's close. So. Well, kind of fly away.

Okay. All depends on your view of the world, right? Close is relative for sure. Okay. I wish we had a couple more hours. I really enjoyed y'all's perspective and expertise here today as we talk about some really big topics of our day. Kim, how can folks connect with you? I know you do a ton of consulting. You do a ton of keynotes and conference stuff and training. You name it. How can folks connect with you other than here?

LinkedIn is the best way to get in touch with me. All my information is there. So hit me up on LinkedIn.

Love that. Appreciate that. Kim, and enjoyed all of our shows we do together. And Sofia, how can folks track you down? Other than finding supply chain on Espanol, wherever they get podcasts from, how can they track you down? Sofia.

So if you do not follow supply chain, I will not accept your invite on LinkedIn. That's the conditional mess. And I'll verify because I think few people know this, but I do go through your profile whenever you send me your. Okay, your invite. So I'll go to your profile and see they're active. They like fly tape. Like, that's my checklist. Okay. So if I haven't accepted you, it's because I'm behind, but, and also because you do not follow. So.

We'Re gonna find out.

We're gonna find out.

Help you by helping yourself, you know? And on the other note that Kim mentioned, we should definitely one day be at a conference together and do a panel.

Yes.

I love doing that.

Sofia, I don't think there's a roof big enough to hold both of us.

I don't think so either. It should be an open space. Yeah, something like that.

Some of those soothing colors, like in that image Kim, you shared earlier. Right? Because we know the conversation is going to be fiery and frank, so we need soothing colors around us. But we gotta get y'all together for sure. I really enjoyed both of y'all here on the buzz here today and your perspectives, folks. Thanks for everyone else that was here today, I know we couldn't hit everybody's comments and questions. Y'all keep it coming, right? Keep it coming. It's one of my favorite parts of all of our live shows, is not just our wonderful practitioner, co host, perspective and expertise, but what y'all share, right? Which I'll share in the comments if you want to learn more in an easy way of how to plug into the supply chain now, community, we're dropping a link to do that just right there. We're trying to make things really easy one click away from checking out the podcast, the events, the newsletter, you name it, you'll check that out. But most importantly, folks, big thanks again to Kim Reuter. Thanks for being here, Kim. Big thanks to Sofia Rivas. Thanks so much, Sofia and Andrea, thanks for both of y'all for what you are doing. And big thanks to Amanda and Trisha behind the scenes and all the folks that showed up. Folks, whatever you do, take one thing that Kim and Safiya shared here today and put it in action. Go tell a friend, start a movement right. We got so much work to do, so little time across global supply chain. And whatever you do on behalf of the entire team here at Supply chain now, Scott Luton, challenge, you do good, give forward, be the change that's needed. We'll see you next time right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks, everybody.

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now community. Check out all of our programming at supply chainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain now.