Customs agents could be facing a storm of global changes in tariffs and regulations as protectionism replaces globalisation, warns Silvia La Face, Maersk digital customer communication manager.In the group’s trends forecast for 2025, she says “some governments are sending shockwaves, promising tariff increases between 30% and 60% for some exporting countries”.“Companies are already trying to understand how these new tariffs and upcoming regulations will affect them, in revenue, cost and profit margin,” says William Petty, global product development manager for custom consulting services at Maersk.“The overall universe of tariffs will be more complicated, with enforcement agencies likely to be more active in checking whether certain goods have really come from the country that is stated by the importer,” he adds.Digitisation of the logistics chains and customs data has become essential.“Trade compliance is becoming the licence to play, while trade and customs data is the new currency of global trade. You need to own your data and carefully select who handles it for you,” states Lars Karlsson, head of global trade and customs consulting services at Maersk.According to the World Economic Forum, artificial intelligence (AI) is need to transform data into usable information. AI is driving unprecedented levels of efficiency and sustainability. ER
