For the first time in my career I think my friends and family finally understand a little more about what I do for a living, thank you to the daily news headlines. Although we can certainly get excited when something we do as part of our job is in the news regularly, I think we can all agree the headline fatigue is starting to set in.

I am sure it has been hard for you to focus on quarter-end goals, when you are receiving emails from executives, customers, and sales people, asking what the actual impact will be to your imports and exports, based on the latest headline news, or 280-character tweet.

When I looked up the condition of “headline fatigue” I realized it is actually a recognized phenomenon. We aren’t making this up! But, how do you get through your day, and get through quarter-end, when it feels the headlines are taking over your life?

The experts say that first you need to step back and take a look at the “Big Picture” when you feel the headlines beating you down. Don’t get caught up in the minutia, and instead approach things with a “just the facts” kind of attitude. Make it personal, and don’t get into the fight or flight mode. Consider what the actual impact will be to you and your company and remember what is in the headlines still has to hit the regulations. That can take time, as you know from experience, in most cases. And, most importantly when you hear the news, take your concerns or worries from those sound bites, and turn them into a call to action. Hear the calling!

We challenge you to not let the fatigue change your end-game. Instead, you have to remember, that you must actually work on your trade compliance or supply chain strategy.

Think about ZTE for example, no one expected them to end up on the entity list. But you handled it, not just once, but multiple times! Once that was resolved you couldn’t just kick back though.

Now it is the trade wars in the news. Have you looked at your ACE reports to see what HTS numbers you are really importing and exporting, and the country of origin? Do you trust the claimed country of origins for all those items you are seeing in ACE? Do the values look correct, or do there appear to be missing zeros? (We’ve seen that.) Do you care about your Incoterms and check them on occasion? (It is always good to check contracts, PO’s, and ACE.) Do you have a strategy to change your sourcing or Incoterms in a way that will be more beneficial to your company? And most importantly, can you keep the impact of significantly increased duties down by having supply chain sourcing alternatives?

Specifically, are you prepared to deal with increased European Union and Chinese tariffs? If it doesn’t impact you on the finished good side, what about components? Does your company understand the real and factual impact? Have you developed spreadsheet reports to identify the true potential impact, or used tools like our complimentary BPE Global Trade Impact Calculator? Be the hero and put executive summaries together that are simple and digestible. Educate your executive staff.

Now, more than ever, is the time to check your wheelhouse. You got this! This is your area of competency, and you can alleviate the headline fatigue we are all experiencing by taking control. You know things that no one else in your company has the expertise to address. Trade practitioners are in the unique position to finally shine, by imparting their knowledge, and steering the company ship to a vetted trade and compliance strategy in Q3.

BPE Global is a global trade consulting and training firm. Renee Roe is a Director of BPE Global. You can reach Renee by email at Renee@bpeglobal.com.

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