Does Your Trade Policy Support Your Company's Values?

If your company is like many, your board of directors may be demanding that you put more effort into environmental, social, and governance issues, which have become known by the now-ubiquitous acronym "ESG." Those demands don't come from nowhere: consumers are demanding transparency and social responsibility. In particular, if your company does business internationally, regulators are focused on international social justice issues (such as the use of forced labor) more than ever.

For companies engaged in international trade, there are many dilemmas to confront in implementing your ESG agenda. Not least is how parts of that agenda may be in tension with your company's growth and revenue goals. For example, how to grow export revenue while doing your part to protect the environment. Or how far to go in auditing the import supply chain to comply with expanding prohibitions on products manufactured with forced labor. Yet there is very little guidance out there on