Navigating the complexities of global trade

June 2019

For manufacturers who are looking to expand their market reach outside of the U.S. or leverage the global supply chain to import their products to the United States, developing an in-depth understanding of how to navigate the complexities of global trade is critical.

Cardinal Health brings deep experience in this arena—with more than 100 employees on its Global Trade and Logistics team, in seven countries around the world. As one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in the world, Cardinal Health is the largest FDA importer and the fifth largest customs importer in the United States—and self-clears more than 99 percent of its U.S. Customs and Border Protection and FDA entries.

If you’re conducting your business across international borders, you should know that Cardinal Health has the hands-on global trade experience, purchasing power and strong relationships with customs, government agencies and service providers to help you do so efficiently, cost effectively and compliantly. Working with Cardinal Health on global trade can often translate into fewer inspections and fewer disruptions as your product moves through various borders, allowing you more time to focus on your organization’s core competencies.

Lei Chase, Manager of Global Trade, led a breakout session at our Channel Management Forum, which explored some of the key challenges that manufacturers face when moving products in and out of the U.S. Chase reiterated that failure to understand these challenges, or to fully adhere to global trade policies and regulations – usually translates into lost time to market, and money.

“It’s not overstating to say that the stakes are high when it comes to failing to comply with global trade regulations,” said Chase. “Products can be held for long periods of time at the border; audits and investigations can be triggered; manufacturers can be debarred from federal contracting, denied export privileges, and even face corporate fines and individual imprisonment. That’s why it’s important to have the right people and expertise on your team to ensure you’re compliant, every step of the way.”

Chase also discussed current and upcoming trends that are shaping and adding further complexity to global trade—ranging from changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to the impact that recent and pending customs tariffs may have on global trade.

Cardinal Health’s flexible approach to providing global trade support can scale along with either organic growth or growth through mergers and acquisitions. By proactively managing relationships with regulatory trade agencies, Cardinal Health helps take the worry out of complex processes like global trade document preparation and retention, while also providing the real-time support clients need to ensure their products are moving through the global supply chain compliantly and efficiently.

“Whether you need contingency plans for your global supply chain, help monitoring global trade trends and their impact to you, or full management of your compliant global trade program, we have the resources to help,” said Chase.

Ask your Client Relationship Manager how you can connect with the expertise and resources of the Cardinal Health Global Trade team.