Guest: Matthew Haber of Cofactr on how tariffs will affect manufacturers; The case for being resilient; New charges to be imposed on Chinese vessels

Apr 25, 2025

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Our guest on this week's episode is Matthew Haber, the CEO and co-founder of Cofactr. Recent surveys show that both consumers and business leaders don’t think tariffs are a good thing. In both cases they feel this economic policy is leading us to higher prices and a recession. Manufacturers in particular are trying to figure out what to do next. And our guest today looks at the impacts of the changing U.S. trade policies on manufacturing.

A study out this week confirms that some of the actions supply chain professionals have taken in recent years to build up their companies’ resilience have worked – most companies say they are confident in their ability to manage disruptions these days. However, a good portion of those supply chain pros also point to some lingering problems – particularly when it comes to supply chain visibility.

This week we heard about another type of fee being applied by the Trump Administration on global trade, which is a new set of fees starting in October that will affect cargo vessels and container ships that are built, owned, or operated by Chinese companies. The White House says this has to do with unfair foreign practices affecting U.S. commerce. We dig into what the supply chain industry says about these new fees. Will they help or hurt U.S. businesses?

Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. All episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.

Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

Podcast is sponsored by: ID Label

Other links