Week in Review: Trump, Tariffs & Thieves: Supply Chain's Wild Week

We’re in the home stretch of 2024, and 2025 already looks like quite a year for supply chains—and that might be an understatement. Fresh off a contentious election, the industry has differing views on what Trump's return means for tariffs and trade. While that debate heats up, American patients struggle to find basic medications at rates that make our Canadian neighbors scratch their heads in confusion. And if you think traditional cargo theft is bad, wait until you hear how today's thieves are swapping crowbars for keyboards. Even food isn't safe anymore—just ask the London cheese maker who lost $388,000 worth of product to some sophisticated scammers. While some pricey supply chain visibility tools can help in this fight and then some, we also look at how and why many don’t deliver what they promised. Let's break it all down.

Trump's Re-Election Sparks Mixed Supply Chain Reactions

The supply chain world split sharply in reaction to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential victory over Kamala Harris. Retail leaders warned of inflation risks, while manufacturing and trucking groups welcomed the change.  

Retail Groups Sound Alarm on Consumer Impact

Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, pulled no punches: broad tariffs on consumer goods would act as "a tax on American families," potentially driving up prices and cutting jobs. Brian Dodge, a Retail Industry Leaders Association member, supported his concerns and pointed to inflation's role in swaying middle-class voters. The textile industry also painted an especially bleak picture—with National Council of Textile Organizations CEO Kimberly Glas referencing 21 manufacturing facilities lost in just 18 months.

Manufacturing & Transport See Opportunity

Yet other sectors see promise in Trump's return. The National Association of Manufacturers praised previous "historic wins" for 13 million American manufacturing workers under Trump's first term. American Trucking Association CEO Chris Spear highlighted opportunities to replace EPA electric truck mandates with "achievable" standards while pushing to end the "century-old" federal excise tax on heavy-duty vehicles. The aerospace industry struck an optimistic tone, too, with industry groups calling for strengthened partnerships between government and manufacturers to maintain American leadership in defense and innovation.

Two Countries, Two Stories: Drug Shortages in the U.S. & Canada

Americans face drug shortages far more often than their northern neighbors—40% more frequently, to be specific. Recent JAMA research revealed quite the contrast: when supply chain problems hit both countries, U.S. patients struggled to find medications nearly half the time. At the same time, Canadians dealt with shortages in only 34% of cases.

Canada's Secret Weapon: Teamwork Across the Supply Chain

Canada runs a tighter ship thanks to remarkable coordination between drug makers, government watchdogs, healthcare providers, and suppliers. The proof is in the numbers—out of 100 supply disruptions studied between 2017 and 2021, Canadian patients were significantly less likely to face empty pharmacy shelves. Manufacturing delays, packaging holdups, and shipping snags simply didn't wreak the same havoc as they did stateside.

U.S. Shortages Reach Crisis Levels

The situation in the U.S. grows more dire by the day. American pharmacists reported 323 medication shortages in early 2024 alone—from vital cancer treatments to ADHD medications. The ADHD drug crisis perfectly illustrates the problem: strict regulations collided with surging diagnosis rates leaving patients scrambling. When Adderall supplies dried up in the fall of 2022, alternatives such as Vyvanse, Focalin, and Ritalin soon followed. But even the FDA's 24% boost to Vyvanse production limits in September 2024 hasn't fully solved the problem, with many Americans still struggling to fill their prescriptions.

Cargo Thieves Get Clever: 776 Heists Net $39.4M in Three Months

CargoNet's latest report paints a wild picture of modern cargo theft—we're talking about criminals who have traded crowbars for keyboards. Between July and September 2024, these crews pulled off 776 thefts across the U.S. and Canada, showing just how much muscle organized crime brings to the logistics world.

Meet Today's Cargo Thief: More Hacker Than Hijacker

Stealing cargo once meant forcing a truck off the road. Nowadays, these criminals sit behind screens—faking documents and hacking email accounts to look like legitimate trucking companies. CargoNet found they're getting sneakier, too—dodging California's watchful eye by setting up fake businesses in states where nobody expects trouble. They've even got warehouses ready to stash their stolen goods before anyone realizes what hit them.

Thieves' Favorite Hunting Grounds

Where does most of this action occur? California, Texas, and Illinois saw 52% of the action last quarter—up from 49% in 2023. Warehouses were hit hardest, and truck stops were close behind. The shopping list has changed, too. Instead of solar panels, these thieves snatch up computers, fancy speakers, and premium liquor. Total damage? A staggering $39.4 million, up from $31.2 million in 2023.  

Cheese Today, Gone Tomorrow: Food's $50B Supply Chain Crisis

Food fraud is also a growing issue costing between $30 - 50 billion globally each year and wreaking havoc through what experts call "one of the biggest, weirdest supply chains" on Earth. Just ask Neal's Yard Dairy in London about how they lost $388,000 worth of fancy cheese in a single scam.  

From Farm to Fraud: Why Food Gets Stolen

Food products bounce through countless hands before landing on your plate. The journey starts at farms, moves through storage facilities and processing plants, and finally reaches stores. At each step, fraudsters can strike—swapping premium ingredients for cheap knockoffs or pulling elaborate disappearing acts with truckloads of goods. Neal's Yard's scammers posed as French supermarket buyers, redirected 22 metric tons of cheese to a warehouse, then vanished without paying. Those award-winning wheels likely ended up sold in loosely regulated markets across Russia and the Middle East.

Keeping Food Honest in a Messy World

Global chaos breeds perfect conditions for food fraud. Red Sea conflicts, Panama Canal droughts, and the war in Ukraine force companies to work with unfamiliar suppliers—making them prime targets for scammers. Smart businesses fight back by demanding clear documentation upfront—and by vetting partners through established networks rather than random Google searches. For instance, detailed tracking of product origins and production methods does double duty: it proves ethical sourcing while making life harder for fraudsters who thrive in murky, fragmented systems.

The Truth About Supply Chain Visibility Tools

Your supply chain feels like a black box. You want predictability, but you'd settle for just knowing what's happening right now. Most companies share your pain: despite heavy investment in visibility tools, 69% of supply chain leaders report their technology spending has yet to deliver what they hoped for. Only 12% feel their investment strategy truly meets their needs.

Visibility Dream vs. Reality

Everyone defines supply chain visibility differently. For some, it means real-time tracking. For others, it means monitoring every process across their multi-tier network. And two people in the same company often have completely different ideas about what "good visibility" looks like. These mismatched expectations help explain why so many real-time shipment visibility initiatives fall short. Think of missing data from undigitized processes, information trapped in departmental silos, and data quality issues that can turn sophisticated analytics into misleading conclusions.

Moving from Disappointment to Results

Companies recognize visibility's value and continue investing in tools to improve it—but tools alone won't solve the problem. Success requires tackling three fundamental challenges head on: making sure key data exists in the first place, breaking down barriers so teams can access the data they need, and implementing strong data quality controls. The path forward starts with clearly defining what visibility means for your operation, identifying concrete goals, and measuring the real business impact of any technology investments.  

Had Enough Supply Chain Surprises? Tive Has Your Back

Between Trump's tariffs, missing medications, digital heists, and disappearing cheese wheels, the latest supply chain news reads like a Netflix thriller. But unlike those fancy visibility tools letting everyone down, here's how Tive can help you and your businesses:

• Trackers: Revolutionize your shipment tracking with Tive's advanced Solo 5G and Solo Lite trackers. These devices offer real-time location and condition monitoring to ensure the security and integrity of your cargo.
• Tive Tag: Enhance perishable shipment protection with Tive Tag—an affordable and reusable paper-thin temperature logger—to verify that your goods have remained pristine throughout transit.
• Platform: Streamline your supply chain management with Tive's intuitive cloud platform, offering comprehensive visibility, analytics, and integration capabilities for seamless shipment tracking and monitoring.
• Industries: Tive caters to a diverse range of industries, ensuring tailored solutions for unique supply chain challenges—from perishables to high-value goods to transportation and logistics to pharmaceuticals… and beyond.
• 24/7 Live Monitoring Team: Our experts are available to help ensure your shipments are constantly watched over and managed—to guarantee timely and secure delivery.

Arm yourself with innovation: let Tive lead the way in transforming your supply chain operations. Embrace the future of logistics—get started with Tive today.

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