Customs vs. C-Suite: The Disconnect That’s Hurting Trade Compliance Strategy

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Trade compliance might not be the most thrilling topic—until it starts costing your company millions. That’s exactly what’s happening as tariffs shift overnight, companies scramble for answers, and supply chain leaders face an avalanche of confusion. 

Most executives don’t want to deal with customs and compliance, and they didn’t have to for years. But now, it’s no longer a back-office function—it’s a front-and-center leadership challenge.

That’s where Jenae Ciecko, President and CEO of Copper Hill, comes in. With over 20 years in trade management, Jenae has seen it all—the confusion, the panic, the miscommunication—and she joins Jan Griffiths to talk about it.

Who owns trade compliance—finance, legal, or supply chain? Turns out, there’s no clear answer. And that’s part of the problem. Many don’t fully understand how trade compliance works. The moment new policies take effect, it’s not just about paying up—it’s about strategy, communication, and risk management.

What if a company just refuses to pay the tariffs? The answer? Not an option. Unlike supplier disputes or delayed payments, customs will always collect their money. The real challenge is who absorbs the cost.

Leaders and compliance teams speak different languages. The C-suite demands quick, clear answers, while compliance teams live in details. The result? Misinformation, missed opportunities, and costly mistakes.

Jenae emphasizes the importance of bridging this gap, ensuring executives ask the right questions, and creating a culture where compliance isn’t just a burden—it’s a strategic advantage.

Through it all, one truth remains: leadership is tested in moments of uncertainty. Those who thrive in this unpredictable era will be the ones who stay calm, communicate clearly, and prepare in advance.

Because when tariffs hit, the best leaders don’t just react—they take control.

Themes discussed in this episode:

• The growing disconnect between C-suite leadership and trade compliance teams
• How sudden tariff changes disrupt automotive supply chains and financial planning
• The role of customs brokers in managing trade compliance and tariff administration
• How automotive leaders can proactively mitigate tariff impacts and compliance issues
• The challenge of adapting to ever-changing trade policies and government regulations
• Why communication gaps between executives and compliance teams lead to a costly mistake
• The impact of tariffs on cash flow, profitability, and long-term business strategy

Featured guest: Jenae Cieko

What she does: Jenae Cieko is the President and CEO of Copper Hill Inc., a company specializing in customs and trade management solutions. With over 20 years of experience, she helps businesses navigate complex trade regulations, mitigate risks, and optimize compliance strategies. A licensed Customs Broker, Jenae has a strong background in centralizing compliance efforts, a skill she honed as Customs Compliance Manager at Magna. Her leadership at Copper Hill is driven by a commitment to simplifying trade management and ensuring companies stay ahead in an ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Episode Highlights:

[03:34] Who Owns Trade Compliance? Trade compliance doesn’t sit neatly in one department—sometimes it's finance, sometimes it's legal, and sometimes it’s just a wild game of hot potato. With tariffs shaking up the industry, companies are scrambling to figure out who's really in charge.

[05:19] Tariffs at Lightning Speed: When a tariff change drops, there’s no grace period—customs brokers update the system instantly, and businesses are left scrambling to keep up. In the auto industry, where precision is everything, reacting overnight isn't just tough—it’s nearly impossible.

[09:02] C-Suite vs. Compliance: Executives want quick answers, compliance teams deal in details, and somewhere in between, critical information gets lost. Closing this communication gap isn’t just helpful—it’s the difference between strategic decisions and costly missteps.

[11:43] The Blind Spot You Can’t Afford: Tariffs aren’t just a financial hit—they’re exposing blind spots in supply chain visibility and trade compliance. Leaders need to ask the right questions, understand the full scope, and stop treating compliance as an afterthought.

[15:32] Dodging Tariffs? Not an Option: Skipping out on tariffs isn’t a choice—Customs always gets paid. The real challenge is navigating who absorbs the cost and how to track it without breaking contracts.

[16:53] Leading Through Disruption: The best leaders stay calm, communicate clearly, and bridge the gap between strategy and compliance—because panic won’t pay the tariffs.

Top Quotes:

[04:30] Jenae: “It's just getting a lot more focus. I mean 25% on anything; margins are tight in automotive; you know that as well as anyone. And so, there's certainly just a kind of hysteria, a little bit right now, and we're just working like listening to what the customers are saying, what the trade is saying, try not to overreact to it because we have to manage it for them. And we have to figure out how to administer it. How is it going to be administered? Some of these things have never happened before, right? So, not only just the impact and the size of the tariffs, but how they're like just literally from a systemic perspective going to be administered for our clients. It's challenging for sure.”

[10:48] Jenae: “I do see that there is definitely a gap in, like, how they're communicating. And also, just trying to solve before understanding the problem. We're kind of wired as trade people to try to mitigate tax. Just like accountants are mitigating IRS taxes. We're wired to mitigate custom taxes. The C-suite right now needs to know the worst-case scenario, maybe scenario, and best-case scenario. And I think that we really have to get our arms around those questions, how they're being asked, and the danger of misinformation if the communication is not correct.”

[13:13] Jenae: “Work with your compliance teams on how to mitigate those taxes because there are creative ways. And tariff engineering is something that people always bring up. Obviously, we work with our clients to make sure that you're compliant and doing the right thing, but using every opportunity. There are definitely things within the USMCA rules that clients maybe haven't needed to look at—to kind of scrape further into whether or not they can get things to qualify—that they're going to need to now. So, it's really getting the C-suite to ask the questions that get the compliance team to look at its full circle.”

[15:54] Jenae: “We have Tier Ones that are trying to push back on their customers to be responsible for it. There are long-term contracts negotiated here, but a 25% tariff on some of these companies could bury them. And it's who's going to bear the burden of that? And the answer is no, you can't. If it crosses that border Customs is going to get their money. That is just going to happen. It's, do companies hold back shipments? Do they say, "I'm not going to ship it to you until you say that you're going to take responsibility for this?" And then, the tracking of that—our customers, if those situations are coming up, they're asking us, "How do we track that and build them?  How do we pass that on logistically?" And all of these things are just unprecedented.”

[17:18] Jenae: “If I'm thinking about the Tier Ones, we have to stay calm. I think that this is a scary time, and there has always been in the automotive industry, a great sense of urgency. It's fast-paced, and everybody wants an answer right now. I think that the more we can stay calm and know that we just need to weather the storm and communicate what we know—so, really communicating the scope of things and what is happening and getting ahead of it to the degree that you can so you're not so reactionary—is really everything.”