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US tariff changes are adding pressure on Australian businesses, with higher costs, supply chain disruptions, and new trade restrictions. With additional tariffs on imports from China and Hong Kong, businesses need to rethink pricing, sourcing, and operations to stay competitive.

With the United States of America electing President Donald Trump for a second term, many economists are considering how this will affect both global and local economies. Whether potential tariffs come to fruition, Australian businesses should take this opportunity to review their supply chain, transfer pricing policies and export strategies and prepare ahead of time to lessen any potential impacts to their business.

The USA is preparing reforms to its de minimis exemptions, a change that could significantly affect Australian retailers selling goods manufactured in China and exporting to the USA. With higher tariffs and stricter customs regulations on the horizon, businesses may face increased costs and compliance challenges, requiring a reassessment of supply chain strategies.

Following the recent removal of tariffs on Australian wine by China, the industry is keen to rebuild relations and explore the right export markets. This presents Australian wine producers with a chance to reassess their position in the global market.

The recently announced ‘Future Made in Australia Act’ underscores the Government’s commitment to the manufacturing re-shoring objective, demonstrating a willingness to adopt an interventionist approach to safeguard and build our sovereign capabilities, ensure our competitiveness with neighbouring countries, and allies and guard against growing geo-political tensions.

Grant Thornton Bharat and Grant Thornton Australia hosted a joint webinar on the correlation between transfer pricing and customs for various sectors in the India-Australia business corridor.

Australia's commitment to reducing carbon emissions is taking a powerful step forward with the proposed green tariff. New regulation has been proposed by Australia's Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen, through the implementation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism on steel and cement imports. Designed to ensure a level playing field for our domestic manufacturers, this initiative could reshape the business landscape by increasing costs on imports and emphasising environmental compliance.

While Net Zero targets have been on the agenda for years now, we’ve recently seen a rise in measures along the regulatory landscape. Across the globe, there’s been significant public and private investment to support and encourage sustainable practices, implement carbon policy, develop taxes on carbon footprint and plastic use, and more. In a rapidly changing regulatory environment where exporters need to adapt to new measures implemented across multiple jurisdictions, how can Australian businesses adapt? And what tax reforms can businesses expect domestically?

Tariffs on emissions-intensive imports are expected to be introduced to adhere to the Government’s proposed emission targets. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen put forward a proposal to enforce pollution caps on the country’s 215 biggest emitters, with the view to reduce their greenhouse output by 5 per cent a year until 2030. There’s no doubt that these emission targets are aggressive – but with penalties in place if organisations don’t comply, we expect to see a positive impact on the adoption of sustainable practices across businesses, manufacturing processes and along the supply chain.

With the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement passing through Federal Parliament of Australia last week, now's the ideal time to assess your India strategy. What are the key opportunities your Agribusiness, Food & Beverage business can explore as part of your India strategy? Find out more about areas of opportunity you can leverage.

With less than one week to go until Labor hands down its first Federal Budget, it will be interesting to see what the Government will do to help set up the future of Australia. Our economy – like many others around the world – is still experiencing supply chain pressures, and with a potential global recession looming, there are some steps the Government could take to ensure Australia’s economic strength over the long term.

With rising supply chain costs and disruptions on a global scale as a result of the pandemic, Australia has been a prime example of resilience by increasing reliance on domestic products to minimise shortages. Although we’ve increased the supply of Australian products, some organisations struggle to compete with global sellers. As supply chains slowly ease back into a pre-pandemic rhythm and import capabilities open back up to their full potential, to compete on a global scale more efficiently, this creates an opportunity to consider where trade policies via tariffs and quotas could be applied to even out the playing field.