Navigating The Risks Of Global Trade

July 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Jeff Iannone, senior product manager and George Knittel, product manager, UPS Capital 

The risks associated with global trade are as diverse as the countries themselves.

As a retailer or wholesaler, your business is either already global, a little bit global, or you’re interested — but extremely anxious — about going global. The reasons for this are clear; it’s all about risk! Risk used to be so simple, especially when business was confined to shipping and receiving within the United States. Remember the famous 1977 movie “Smokey and the Bandit,” in which Jackie Gleason chases Burt Reynolds, the Bandit, across the country for running a tractor-trailer full of beer across county lines? Those days are long gone.

Today, it is not about crossing county lines, but about crossing international boundaries, time zones, oceans, cultures, languages, political landscapes, and so much more. Businesses now have to assess the risks associated with going international — including shipping, security, and monetary and customer risks.