Talking Supply Chain: Genpact’s Anderson talks tariff strategies

Businesses are facing a whirlwind of news surrounding tariffs. Will President Donald Trump implement them? On which countries will they be placed? How much will they be?

To try and help supply chains make sense of the current environment, Peter Anderson, global supply chain lead at Genpact, joined the Talking Supply Chain podcast to discuss steps businesses can take to navigate the new global business landscape.

Anderson noted that Mexico is now the largest trading partner with the U.S., so should tariffs on Mexican imports go into effect, it would have a significant impact on U.S. businesses.

“People think of trade and people moving to Mexico because of the implications of China,” Anderson said. “But USMCA drove, in many industries, new content requirements and those content requirements meant that we had to produce either in Canada, the U.S., or Mexico.”

He added that a tariff on goods from Mexico would be felt more immediately due to the shorter supply chains as compared to China tariffs. However, for businesses, the next steps are more complicated as Trump discusses tariffs on multiple countries.

“We had options and alternatives when it was more of a single country push in terms of the Vhina tariffs previously,” Anderson said. “This time, we’ve talked about Canada, we’ve talked about Mexico and China. There’s also the potential out there for EU or UK or other places as well. So it’s not just a we need to move out of China. Now, it’s what impact does it have?”

In a previous career stop, Anderson was responsible for moving about $380 million worth of goods to new locations to avoid tariffs under the first Trump administration. During the conversation, he talks about the strategies he employed and how businesses today can be ready should new tariffs go into effect.

To hear more of his thoughts, listen today.

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