Cargomatic Fireside Chat Featuring Jon Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy for the National Retail Federation

John Gold, Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy for the National Retail Federation, discusses the challenges retailers face in 2022 due to unprecedented growth in import volumes and ongoing supply chain disruption. Despite these challenges, retailers are moving record volumes of cargo and adjusting to meet consumer demand.

The holiday season is a critical time for retailers, but there are still many uncertainties for 2023, such as inflation, labor negotiations, and regulation impacts. The need for risk diversification in the supply chain is highlighted, but diversifying takes time, and there is a need for skilled workers to do what’s necessary to shift production back locally.

The government has done some work to address supply chain issues consisting of congested ports well before COVID-19. However, there are limits to what they can do since most of the supply chains are privately owned and privately run. Getting stakeholders together and addressing the issues holistically rather than fixing one piece at a time is another way to approach the problem.