CT Strategies Kelley Sanabria had the opportunity to attend the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 6th Annual Global Supply Chain Summit held on May 22nd. The aim of the summit is to bring together “industry and government leaders to address the current challenges and opportunities facing global supply chains.” The main themes of the summit included: global e-commerce and emerging technologies, infrastructure investment and modernization, trade facilitation and harmonizing borders, and transparency, security, and trust. Some of the featured speakers at the summit included: Christa Brzozowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade and Transport at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Michael T. Dougherty, Assistant Secretary, Border, Immigration and Trade Policy at DHS, Emile Monette, Lead, Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management Initiative at DHS, Cindy Miller, President of Global Freight Forwarding at UPS, and Jose Raul Perales, Deputy Director for the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation.
E-commerce
Featured industry speakers at the summit likened e-commerce to the Wild West; exciting but challenging. Kevin McAleenan, Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), spoke of the work that CBP is doing in managing the rise of e-commerce and the increased packages arriving at the border. McAleenan spoke of CBP’s newly released E-commerce Strategy Paper and the Office of Trade’s new e-commerce division. McAleenan stressed that to assist CBP in managing e-commerce, the agency is requesting more help from the private sector through public-private partnerships.
Public-private partnerships
McAleenan, along with other public-sector leaders, spoke of CBP’s need for more information and data from industry to assist the agency in risk management for e-commerce and other supply chain challenges. Public-private partnerships will also help CBP in more effectively detecting “devastating shipments of synthetic opioids” or identifying forced labor shipments. In addition to the increased utilization of public-private partnerships, new technologies and their application in the supply chain environment were highly discussed.
Emerging technology
Featured speakers at the summit discussed the role of blockchain technology in verifying supply chain elements, such as the proof of origin, ensuring transparency, and deterring fraudulent goods. Speakers also debated the role of emerging technologies in enhancing competitiveness in trade facilitation.
CT Strategies will continue to monitor global supply chain challenges, such as e-commerce, the role of public-private partnerships and exciting new technologies, especially as they relate to CBP. If you’d like up-to-date supply chain news, follow CT Strategies on Twitter.
