Navigating the End of Globalization: Adapting Business Models in a Chaotic Trade Environment

As US president Donald Trump revives his trade war, business leaders may seek certainty by switching to local and regional supply chains.

-          Businesses need stability, certainty to make investment decisions

-          Trade war could drive more national/regional industrial and chemical supply chains 

-          But reshoring can be very expensive and time-consuming

-          New technologies such as 3-D printing and AI support local production

-          Export-dependent US chemicals have a lot to lose from a trade war  

-          US exported more than 10 million tonnes of polyethylene (PE) to Europe in 2023