Rethinking Trade Routes: How Global Supply Chains are being Rewired
- Erika Trujillo
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Maersk – Beyond the Box Podcast Blog Article
Alexander Witt, 4 September 2025
The world has seen massive change over the last five years. Climate change, geopolitical conflicts, a global pandemic and shifting alliances have all impacted supply chains in all aspects. Well into 2025, the industry has already faced a myriad of challenges that have significantly impacted supply chains and logistics.
In this episode of Beyond the Box, the speakers explore how global supply chains are being reshaped in real time. With traditional trade routes under pressure from geopolitical tensions, sanctions, and shifting market dynamics, businesses are rethinking how and where they move goods.
Hosted by Nichole Allem and Philip Lewin, the episode features Erika Trujillo, co-founder and managing director of SEIA Compliance Technologies in Munich, Germany and Margaret A. Kidd, lecturer in supply chain and logistics technology at the University of Houston and president of the Houston Maritime Center and Museum in Texas, USA.
Together they explore:
o The long-term rewiring of global trade lanes
o The rise of nearshoring and regionalisation
o How compliance, export controls, and sanctions are reshaping logistics
o Opportunities and risks in emerging markets like India, the Middle East, and Latin America
o Why data transparency and digital tools are essential for supply chain resilience
Key Takeaways
The discussion provides valuable insights for supply chain leaders and compliance professionals.
Companies can no longer make supply chain decisions based purely on cost and efficiency considerations. Compliance, export controls, and sanctions are reshaping logistics, requiring regulatory considerations to be integrated into supply chain design from the beginning.
Emerging markets offer significant opportunities for companies seeking to diversify away from traditional trade routes, but they also present new compliance challenges and regulatory risks that must be carefully managed through sophisticated analytical capabilities.
Data transparency and digital tools are essential for supply chain resilience in this new environment. As supply chains become more complex and geographically distributed, companies need analytical capabilities to understand risk exposure across multiple jurisdictions.
Building resilience requires adaptive capabilities that can respond to changing conditions while maintaining compliance with evolving regulatory requirements. This represents a fundamental shift from optimization for known conditions to building capabilities for unknown and rapidly changing conditions.
Companies need access to compliance and regulatory expertise to navigate the complex and rapidly changing regulatory environment. As supply chains become more distributed, organizations require expertise to understand and manage compliance obligations across multiple jurisdictions.
For supply chain leaders, the key takeaway is that diversification alone is insufficient. Companies need sophisticated analytical capabilities that provide visibility into compliance implications of different supply chain configurations and support strategic decision-making about trade-offs between efficiency, resilience, and compliance.
Building resilient supply chains in uncertain times?
SEIA's compliance technology solutions help you navigate complex global trade routes while maintaining regulatory compliance. Discover how our data analytics can support your supply chain strategy. Visit www.seiatech.com to explore our solutions.
Listen to the full podcast: https://www.maersk.com/insights/resilience/2025/08/18/rethinking-trade-routes
