Simply Trade

Host: Cindy Allen
Published: April 3, 2026
Length: ~15 minutes
Presented by: Global Training Center

Summary
In this week’s episode of Simply Trade: Cindy’s Version, Cindy Allen breaks down a major shift in trade operations as CBP moves closer to launching the CAPE system for IEEPA duty refunds—while at the same time, new Section 232 actions signal that trade enforcement is far from slowing down.

CBP has indicated it is on track for an April 20 rollout of CAPE, with key components nearing completion. However, Phase 1 will only cover certain entries, leaving many importers navigating critical decisions around protests and timing.

At the same time, new developments in pharmaceutical tariffs and steel and aluminum revisions suggest that, despite recent legal challenges, trade enforcement is evolving—not retreating.

Inspired by Taylor Swift’s Begin Again, Cindy walks through why this moment feels less like closure—and more like the start of a new phase in global trade compliance.

This Week in Trade
• CBP signals April 20 target for CAPE rollout tied to IEEPA refunds
• Phase 1 expected to cover ~63% of entries, excluding many already liquidated cases
• Judge highlights importers’ right to file protests, raising strategic considerations
• Strait of Hormuz disruptions continue to create supply chain uncertainty
• No movement on key legislation including First Sale and Foreign Importer of Record rules

IEEPA Refunds & CAPE: Where Things Stand
CBP continues to make progress toward launching CAPE (Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries):

• Claim portal (~85% complete)
• Mass processing of entries (~60% complete)
• Review and liquidation (~80% complete)
• Refund processing (~75% complete)

Phase 1 will:
• Focus on unliquidated entries and those within voluntary reliquidation windows
• Exclude fully liquidated entries, protests, drawback, and certain AD/CVD cases

⏱️ Timeline:
• Target launch: ~April 20
• Estimated processing: up to 45 days post-launch

Section 232: We’re “Beginning Again”
This week brought significant new developments under Section 232:

Pharmaceutical Tariffs
• 100% duty on name-brand pharmaceuticals
• Generics excluded
• Implementation expected within 180 days

Key complexity:
• Importers must now identify brand vs. generic at entry
• Multiple exemptions and reduced rates tied to reshoring and trade agreements

Steel & Aluminum Updates
• 50% duty remains for core steel/aluminum products
• 25% duty on derivative products (full value)
• New de minimis exemption for products with <15% steel/aluminum by weight

These updates simplify some calculations—but may increase duty exposure for many importers.

Key Takeaways
• CAPE is progressing—but refunds will be phased and complex
• Importers should evaluate protest strategies carefully
• Trade enforcement is not slowing—it’s resetting and expanding
• Section 232 is entering a new operational phase
• Compliance will require more detailed product-level data than ever before

Resources & Mentions
• Global Training Center
• Cindy Allen – LinkedIn
• Global Training Center

• Global Training Center on LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Trade Geeks Community

Host: Warrington Ellacott
Guest: David A. Johnston
Published: April 1, 2026
Length: ~20 minutes
Presented by: Global Training Center

🌍 Adapting to Disruption in a Shifting Trade Landscape

In this episode of Simply Trade [Canada], Warrington Ellacott sits down with Dr. David A. Johnston to explore how geopolitical shifts, infrastructure investments, and evolving trade dynamics are reshaping supply chains.

From Canada’s renewed focus on nation-building infrastructure to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding USMCA negotiations, this conversation highlights the realities businesses face today—and the strategies they need to stay resilient. Dr. Johnston shares insights from his work at the Schulich School of Business, emphasizing the importance of flexibility, collaboration, and long-term planning in an increasingly volatile global trade environment.

🧠 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

🌐 How geopolitical risks and policy shifts are disrupting global supply chains
🏗️ What Canada’s major infrastructure investments mean for importers and exporters
🤝 Why communication with supply chain partners is critical during uncertainty
📦 How to think about transportation flexibility, including shifting modes like air, rail, and ocean
📊 Practical ways to manage short-term risk while planning for long-term change
🌎 Why diversification and global market expansion require new logistics strategies

🔑 Key Takeaways:

Strong communication with suppliers, carriers, and partners is essential during disruption.

Infrastructure investments create long-term opportunities—but won’t solve short-term challenges.

Flexibility in transportation modes can keep goods moving, even at higher costs.

Businesses should balance immediate risk management with longer-term strategic repositioning.

Trade relationships—especially between Canada and the U.S.—remain critical despite uncertainty.

Disruption often creates opportunity, particularly in emerging sectors like infrastructure and defense.

📌 Resources & Mentions:

George Weston Ltd Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains – Schulich School of Business

Master of Supply Chain Management Program – York University

Sloan Management Review (2022) – Preparing for Supply Chain Disruptions

USMCA / CUSMA Trade Agreement

CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership)

🎧 Credits

Host:

Warrington Ellacott – https://www.linkedin.com/in/warringtonellacott/

Guest:

David A. Johnston – https://www.schulich.yorku.ca/faculty-research/george-weston

Producer:

Lalo Solorzano

📢 Subscribe & Follow

New episodes every week.

Presented by: Global Training Center — providing education, consulting, workshops, and compliance resources for trade professionals.
👉 https://www.globaltrainingcenter.com

Connect with us:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/global-training-center

https://www.youtube.com/@simplytradepod

https://open.spotify.com/show/09m199JO6fuNumbcrHTkGq

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/simply-trade/id1640329690

https://globaltrainingcenter.com/portal/

Don’t forget to rate, review, and share with your fellow trade geeks!

Hosts: Renee Chiuchiarelli & Julie Parks

Published: March 31, 2026

Length: ~10 minutes

Presented by: Global Training Center

🎧 Episode Summary
In this episode, Renee and Julie kick off a new series focused on a critical evolution in global trade:

👉 How do you shift your team from tactical execution to strategic impact?

Most trade teams are buried in transactions—processing entries, fixing data, responding to audits. But today’s environment demands more.

The question is no longer:
“Are we processing trade?”

It’s:
“Are we leading it?”

This episode breaks down the difference between tactical vs. strategic work, why teams get stuck, and what’s at risk if you don’t evolve.

🔑 Key Takeaways
1. Tactical Work = Necessary, But Reactive
Tactical work keeps the business moving—but it’s often:

Transaction-focused

Time-sensitive

Manual and repetitive

Reactive and firefighting

Examples include:

Entry processing

Data corrections

Broker email back-and-forth

Audit scrambling

Manual screening and rework

👉 It’s essential—but it won’t move your organization forward.

2. Strategic Work = Value Creation
Strategic trade work is where real impact happens.

It includes:

Tariff mitigation strategies

Country of origin and sourcing optimization

Trade analytics and risk pattern identification

Broker governance and performance management

Automation and control design

Characteristics of strategic teams:
✔ Proactive
✔ Data-driven
✔ Cross-functional
✔ Focused on financial and operational outcomes

3. Today’s Reality: You Need Both
This isn’t an either/or conversation anymore.

👉 The current trade environment demands:

Tactical excellence and

Strategic leadership

As Renee highlights, even seasoned leaders are being pulled back into the details—while tactical teams are being asked to think more strategically.

4. Why Teams Get Stuck in Tactical Mode
Common reasons include:

Understaffing

Constant operational pressure

Poor data quality

Lack of documented processes

Over-reliance on email and tribal knowledge

Leadership viewing trade as purely transactional

No KPIs tied to value creation

5. The Risk of Staying Tactical
If your team never evolves:

Errors repeat and expand during audits

Duty savings opportunities are missed

Regulatory changes outpace your response

Burnout and turnover increase

Trade gets excluded from strategic planning

👉 You become a cost center… instead of a strategic partner.

🚀 Figure It Out (FIO) – This Week’s Action
Before you can evolve, you need visibility.

👉 Track where your team is spending time.

List out current activities and projects

Categorize them:

Tactical

Strategic

Identify where the majority of time is going

🎯 This becomes your baseline for the rest of the series.

💬 Join the Conversation
Where does your team spend most of its time today?

🔥 Firefighting?

📊 Strategy?

⚖️ A mix of both?

👉 Head over to the Trade Geeks community and share your breakdown—and let’s compare notes.

Credits
Hosts:
Renee Chiuchiarelli
Julie Parks

Producer:
Lalo Solorzano

🎧 Subscribe & Follow
New TIPS episodes every Tuesday.

Presented by:
Global Training Center — education, consulting, workshops & compliance resources for trade professionals

🔗 Connect With Us

Simply Trade Podcast on LinkedIn

Global Training Center on LinkedIn

YouTube

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Trade Geeks Community

💬 Don’t forget to rate, review & share with your fellow trade geeks!

🎙️ Want to Be on the Show or Have Topic Suggestions?
📧 [email protected]
🐦 Twitter/X: @SimplyTradePod

Host: Annik Sobing
Guest: Chris Bachinnski, Co‑CEO & President, GHY International
Published: March 2026
Length: ~35 minutes
Presented by: Global Training Center

Annik sits down with Chris Bachinnski, Co‑CEO and President of GHY International, for a leadership‑focused conversation on what it really takes to build and sustain a customs brokerage and trade business in a volatile, tech‑driven environment. Starting from sweeping floors in his dad’s trucking company at age 12 to leading a 100+ year‑old firm, Chris shares how work ethic, curiosity, and culture have shaped his career across transportation, marketing, and now trade.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Chris’s unconventional path to trade

Grew up in trucking, bought his dad’s company in his 20s, then sold into a publicly traded roll‑up and learned the pros/cons of “quarterly mindset.”

Shifted into a small marketing agency as CFO/COO, where he discovered the tight link between brand and culture and began doing leadership/culture training for clients.

GHY first hired his firm for branding and leadership work; later, owner Rick Reeseinvited him in as President specifically for his leadership and culture skills, not customs expertise.

Designing and changing culture on purpose

Chris interviewed all 105 GHY associates in his first 6–7 months just to listen, then worked with leadership to define: what must never change, what needs to improve, and which behaviors will be tolerated.

His core belief: “Culture is the result of the behaviors you permit”—leaders must live values first, then hold people accountable, even when that means making hard calls on long‑tenured but misaligned employees.

From operator to enterprise‑level leader

With GHY now ~245–250 people, Chris’s CEO coach pushed him to stop being involved in everything and focus on: looking around the corner, aligning the organization, and holding leaders accountable.

He still stays grounded by walking the office daily, restarting one‑on‑one interviews with staff after 10 years, and sharing results from his annual leadership feedback survey with the entire company.

Leading through uncertainty and mistakes

In COVID and the recent tariff/trade waves, GHY leaned into two non‑negotiables: care for people and care for clients, avoiding knee‑jerk layoffs and thinking long‑term even after a “spooked” decision in early 2025.

On errors, Chris rejects the “I let people make mistakes so they learn” line as arrogant; instead, he tells the story of a six‑figure error where GHY refused a resignation, treated it as (expensive) education, and moved forward.

Advice for aspiring leaders

Chris distinguishes between title‑driven leaders and those who see leadership as stewardship: taking what’s been entrusted, making it better, and protecting it for the future.

His core advice: cultivate insatiable curiosity, ask lots of questions, seek mentors, practice empathy (especially now, with stressed employees and customers), and avoid short‑term, fear‑based decisions.

Tech, AI, and the future of brokerage

Chris is candid with his board that technology is the one thing he least wants to under‑estimate; the impact he thought was 5–10 years out is arriving much faster.

GHY’s focus: embrace technology plus process improvement not as a headcount weapon, but as a tool to make people better, improve accuracy, and help clients succeed—constantly questioning “we’ve always done it this way.”

Credits
Host: Annik Sobing
Guest: Chris Bachinnski (Co‑CEO & President, GHY International)
Producer: Annik Sobing

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Join the conversation with fellow trade professionals in the Trade Geeks Community:
https://globaltrainingcenter.com/portal/?utm_source=SimplyTradePodcast

Host: Cindy Allen
Show: Simply Trade – Cindy’s Version
Published: March 27, 2026
Length: ~13 minutes
Presented by: Global Training Center

Evermore: Section 122, Steel/Aluminum Valuation, DHS Funding, and the Never‑Ending IEEPA Refund Saga

Cindy Allen returns with another Taylor Swift–themed trade update, this time using “Evermore” to capture how the trade community feels about the seemingly endless cycle of new tariffs, court decisions, and refund processes. She covers leadership changes at DHS, shifting timelines for key CBP events, fresh confusion around steel and aluminum valuation, Section 122 and 301/232 moves aimed at replacing IEEPA revenue, and why she thinks the trade world needs to hit “pause” on IEEPA expectations until CBP’s CAPE process is truly defined.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

DHS & CBP updates

New DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a Trump‑aligned former U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, is sworn in; early signals focus on immigration, with little yet on customs.

CBP’s Trade and Cargo Summit in Dallas is postponed from next month to September due to funding issues; existing registrations will be transferred, with updated instructions to come via CSMS/announcements.

USMCA and steel/aluminum valuation

USMCA: U.S. and Mexico are in talks to extend/renew the agreement using three‑year review periods with annual extensions—essentially letting it “limp along” another 4–10 years, but at least keeping parties at the table.

Steel/aluminum/copper components: CBP has issued new but confusing and partly contradictory guidance on valuation; with court challenges pending and no comprehensive methodology, Cindy urges importers to consult counsel and test whether their approach is defensible under reasonable care standards.

Section 122, 301, and 232 moves

The White House again signals raising Section 122 tariffs from 10% to 15%, but provides no timing; the statutory 150‑day clock keeps running, raising questions about whether they’ll increase within that window or let it lapse and start a new 122 action.

Legal uncertainty: Can the administration lawfully let one 122 action expire and immediately launch another at 15%? With no case law on this rarely used tool, Cindy expects eventual court challenges.

New or adjusted Section 301 and potential 232 cases are clearly framed as ways to replace lost IEEPA revenue after the Supreme Court ruling; the administration also hints that announced rates may change after investigations and hearings.

Forced labor and 301 justification questions

One proposed 301 angle targets countries that “don’t fully enforce forced labor protections,” but Cindy questions how foreign import enforcement links to unfair trade practices harming U.S. commerce, given the U.S. already has its own forced labor import rules.

She flags this as another area ripe for challenge if 301 gets stretched to cover other countries’ internal enforcement of their own import regimes.

DHS budget standoff and FMC decision

As of 1 p.m. CT on March 27: No DHS funding bill fully passed; the Senate approved a measure apparently including DHS funding but maybe not CBP/ICE, and then recessed until mid‑April. The House and the President’s final positions remain uncertain.

Strait of Hormuz: Limited, negotiated safe‑passage traffic continues for some countries, but full reopening hasn’t happened; oil over $100/barrel is impacting carriers and downstream users.

FMC: Denies some carriers’ requests for immediate rate hikes tied to Hormuz‑related fuel costs, holding them to the 30‑day notice requirement since the filings didn’t meet the criteria for accelerated increases.

Evermore & IEEPA Refunds: Why Cindy Says “Pause”
Using “Evermore,” Cindy captures the community’s sense that the “pain” of constant change might last forever—but the song’s ending points to eventual relief. She applies that to IEEPA refunds and the developing CAPE process:

What we know (high level)

CBP is building a CAPE‑based, automated, bulk refund system.

Refunds will go to the importer of record or the broker, and complexity may factor into prioritization, as suggested in CBP Executive Director Brandon Lord’s declaration.

What we don’t know (the bigger list)

When refunds actually start flowing.

What data declarations must include (entry number only, entry + IOR, more?).

How liquidation status will drive treatment:

Not liquidated.

Liquidated but within 90 days (CBP’s reliquidation window).

Between 90 and 180 days (inside protest window).

Beyond 180 days (finally liquidated).

Whether courts will effectively override the 180‑day finality to enable refunds on finally liquidated entries, and what administrative mechanism would exist to do so.

How CBP will handle prioritization, multiple brokers on the same importer’s entries, and any limits on bulk submissions.

Whether CBP will accelerate or use the normal ~314‑day liquidation cycle for unliquidated entries tied to IEEPA.

Given the sheer volume of open questions and the flood of webinars, articles, and press coverage, Cindy’s message to importers and brokers is to take a breath, recognize what is actually known, avoid over‑promising internally, and wait for clearer CAPE details rather than reacting to every rumor. Like the end of “Evermore,” she believes this phase of pain will not be forever.

Credits
Host: Cindy Allen
Producer: Annik Sobing 

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Join the conversation with fellow trade professionals in the Trade Geeks Community:
https://globaltrainingcenter.com/portal/?utm_source=SimplyTradePodcast