Tariffs, Talent and Uncertainty: What Supply Chains Learned in 2025

We revisit the past year of tariff policy and its ripple effects across global supply chains.

Our guest, supply chain expert Alastair Charatan, returns to discuss what predictions held up and what surprises emerged from the predictions we made back in January.

We unpack why large‑scale reshoring hasn’t materialized, how shortened planning horizons complicate capital investment and why a “carrots over sticks” industrial strategy beats blunt trade instruments.

Listen and learn:
Why you need to invest in scenario planning tools
Lock capacity early when bottlenecks loom, and
Prioritize workforce development to work alongside automation and co-bots. 

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Timestamps:
00:05 – Welcome & why we’re revisiting tariff predictions
01:00 – What actually happened: stockpiling, delayed price rises, limited reshoring
02:14 – Global responses: minimal UK/EU/Japan retaliation; China’s targeted moves
02:43 – Tariffs as a “dial” vs. structural changes (Brexit); will they be permanent?
03:05 – Sector pain points: US soybeans, subsidy offsets; Canada headline vs. USMCA reality
04:37 – Mitigation tactics: inventory cushions, sourcing tweaks, pricing decisions
05:48 – Durable goods inflation (appliances & autos) and what the data suggests
06:56 – Why traded-goods inflation stays sticky; cross‑border auto supply chains
07:55 – Friend‑shoring frustrations: Mexico & Canada hit by tariff scope
08:26 – High‑tech perspective: staying in Asia, passing costs through to customers
09:40 – Policy uncertainty & the Supreme Court: why big moves are on hold
10:05 – Shrinking planning horizons; semiconductor fabs and multi‑year timelines
10:47 – Tariffs as a blunt instrument; what thoughtful industrial policy looks like
12:22 – Immigration enforcement example & impacts on foreign investment confidence
13:21 – Efficiency vs. resiliency under tariffs: fewer radical shifts than COVID era
21:13 – Tariffs as national policy; bigger forces: AI, automation, robotics
23:42 – Lessons learned: scenario planning surge; book capacity ahead of bottlenecks
25:30 – Indicators to watch: Supreme Court ruling & measuring real tariff impact
28:52 – Silver lining: “carrots over sticks”—grants, apprenticeships, ecosystems
30:30 – Talent first: upskilling to work with decision tools, automation, and co-bots
32:28 – Closing & next check‑in; thank‑yous and sign‑off

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