Maine Pointe In The News

Originally posted in Supply Chain Dive

As a result of the increasingly unpredictable trade war between the US and China, companies need to look at their supply chain strategies closely and re-think their reliance on China. Building in a higher level of optionality and de-risking is the first order of business as companies decide how they must react to this news

In this article, the authors discuss the realignment of global trade and the reversal of free trade, as globalization is overtaken by populism and protectionism. As a result of this trend, US companies are modifying their supply chains, and according to a Bain & Co. survey, 60 percent of executives doing business in China felt that the trade war has given them an opportunity to re-think their strategies.

Maine Pointe CEO Steve Bowen was quoted noting how these new realities are changing how companies look at their total supply chain. Steve notes that companies are finding new suppliers, offering an example of one manufacturer which uses steel products from China, but is now looking for a European supplier. Still, companies that rely on sophisticated and high-tech manufacturing may find it difficult to move production to other countries, regardless of tariffs.