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Tariffs & Supply Chain Monitoring: How to Remove Counterfeits & Prevent Leakages
- Brand Protection
As brands seek to diversify their supply chains and manufacturing hubs in the wake of the Trump administration’s unpredictable tariff policy, they face hidden threats from counterfeits and gray market leakages.
In today’s global economy, agility is a virtue — but it can also be a vulnerability.
With trade dynamics now in a state of constant flux, businesses are being forced to rethink how — and where — they source their products. Tariffs, in particular, have become a recurring disruptor. From the 2018 U.S.-China trade war to the looming tariffs under the second Trump administration, sourcing strategies are once again under the microscope.
Many brands are pivoting rapidly, rerouting manufacturing to countries outside China to avoid increased costs. On paper, it’s a smart move: protect margins, maintain competitiveness, and insulate supply chains from future shocks. But in practice, these quick shifts often open the door to new, unmonitored threats — especially to brand integrity and IP security.
But what can brands do? Fortunately, there are powerful solutions that can be deployed to monitor and protect your supply chain from being infiltrated by counterfeiters and exploited by gray market operators.
Read on to learn about the growing supply chain threats that have followed a renewed wave of tariffs and – critically – how you can harness monitoring and enforcement technology to safeguard your brand’s integrity, protect consumers, and prevent revenue loss.
Tariffs are back on the table
During his first term, Donald Trump imposed hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods, triggering a wide-scale realignment of global sourcing strategies. With Trump now pursuing a more intense strategy in his second term, many executives are preparing for a global trade war.
What does the current landscape look like? As of April 2025, the Trump administration has imposed sweeping tariffs, including a 10% general import duty and 25% sector-specific tariffs on steel, aluminum, cars, and soon auto parts. China faces tariffs totaling 145%, while goods from Canada and Mexico are hit with 25% duties unless compliant with USMCA.
Additional 25% tariffs target nations trading Venezuelan oil. The UK and EU are also affected, with UK exports facing new barriers. As expected, retaliation has followed from countries such as Canada and China, with others threatening action. The tariffs target sectors deemed critical to U.S. manufacturing and aim to boost domestic production, but have triggered global trade tensions, price hikes, and stockpiling behavior in the U.S.
This is already causing ripples in boardrooms and procurement offices. Companies are exploring how they can shiftoperations away from China to countries less targeted by tariffs like Vietnam, India, Mexico, and the Philippines — diversifying to stay ahead of policy shifts. But in the rush to move fast, some brands are stepping into markets that aren’t fully understood or vetted.
And when that happens, counterfeiters are often the first to notice.
New markets, new threats from counterfeits and the gray market
Sourcing from a new region introduces a different set of risks — not just in production quality or logistics, but in brand vulnerability to IP threats. Emerging manufacturing hubs may lack the robust enforcement infrastructure or regulatory transparency found in more established locations. Local partners may engage in subcontracting, surplus selling, or weak IP management, often without malicious intent — but with real consequences.
Where there is supply chain opacity, counterfeit networks thrive.
A real-world lesson from the apparel industry
Take, for example, a major U.S. apparel brand that shifted production from China to Southeast Asia following the 2018 tariff hikes. The goal was cost mitigation and tariff avoidance. What they didn’t anticipate was that one of their new suppliers would subcontract production to an unlicensed facility — without approval.
Within weeks of the brand’s latest collection launching, knockoffs appeared across eCommerce platforms and social media, undercutting prices and damaging trust. The counterfeits were nearly indistinguishable from the real thing, and customer confusion spiked. The company scrambled to respond, initiating takedown requests and consumer alerts — but the damage was done.
The counterfeiters had followed the pivot — and exploited the gap in visibility.
The hidden cost of supply chain agility
Shifting suppliers or production hubs in response to tariffs may be necessary. But it also creates blind spots.
- Revenue loss: counterfeits divert legitimate sales and flood markets with unauthorized replicas.
- Brand erosion: poor-quality fakes can lead to negative reviews, product returns, and diminished brand trust.
- Legal and regulatory risk: brands can face scrutiny if they fail to properly vet suppliers or control distribution channels.
- Customer safety: in sectors like pharmaceuticals, automotive parts, or electronics, counterfeit goods can carry life-threatening risks.
- Gray market disruption: parallel imports surge as opportunistic resellers exploit regional price gaps and supply chain leakages, undermining pricing strategy and damaging relations with authorized partners.
These aren’t hypothetical scenarios — they’re unfolding every day as companies enter new sourcing environments under time pressure.
Monitoring: your brand’s insurance policy
When your supply chain evolves, your risk profile evolves with it. The question isn’t whether to move production — it’s how to do it responsibly.
Monitoring your brand’s digital footprint in new regions is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s a necessary layer of Brand Protection. Think of it as insurance for agility: if you’re going to pivot quickly to avoid tariffs, you need to ensure you’re not creating blind spots that counterfeiters can exploit.
What effective online monitoring looks like
Brand Protection and monitoring tools give you real-time visibility into how and where your brand appears online. They scan global marketplaces, social media, and eCommerce websites using AI image matching and intelligent keyword tools to find :
- Unauthorized product listings
- Imitation packaging and brand impersonation
- Trademark misuse or lookalikes
- Suspicious seller activity connected to your known suppliers
This intelligence helps brands identify problems before they escalate, making it possible to take swift enforcement action, notify legal teams, and even flag potential issues with suppliers and distribution partners.
Monitoring strategy moves with you
As your supply chain shifts from China to Vietnam, or Mexico to India, your monitoring footprint should follow. It scales with your operation, providing coverage across borders and online platforms — so no matter where you manufacture, you have eyes on your brand’s exposure.
What’s at stake in 2025 and beyond
WithTrump’sreturnto the presidency in 2025, we are now witnessing another wave of tariff-related reshoring and rerouting. And in the long term, , bipartisan support for reshoring critical industries means this recalibration of trade and production will likely continue. The strategic response for brands isn’t just about where they produce — it’s about how they manage the risks that come with change.
And change, for all its benefits, always comes with exposure.
Brands that prepare are already winning
One global electronics brand, anticipating renewed tariffs in 2025, recently made a preemptive shift in production. But instead of just signing new supplier contracts and moving on, they also implemented a 12-month monitoring plan. Within 30 days of production starting, the system flagged several suspicious listings of their product on regional marketplaces — before those listings gained traction. They were able to investigate, take down the listings, and identify a weak link in their supplier chain.
The result? The product launch proceeded with confidence, and the brand protected its market share without disruption.
Proactive questions every brand should ask
Before making any supply chain changes, especially in response to tariffs or trade policy, ask yourself:
- Does my team have full visibility into the IP risk landscape of the new region?
- Are our new suppliers contractually obligated to follow strict anti-counterfeiting and subcontracting protocols?
- How quickly can we detect unauthorized use of our brand or product in new markets?
- Do we have a system in place to respond to threats before customers are affected?
- Is Brand Protection part of our supply chain decision-making process — or an afterthought?
If any of these answers are uncertain, your brand could be more exposed than you realize.
Don’t let a strategic pivot become a Brand Protection crisis
Tariffs are just one of many factors forcing companies to rethink supply chains. But reacting to economic pressure without an equally strong focus on brand protection is a dangerous game.
You can’t control global trade policy — but you can control how you protect your brand in the face of it.
Brand Protection and monitoring technology gives you the capability to move fast, without putting your reputation on the line. With the unpredictability of the second Trumpy administration and further waves of sourcing changes looming on the horizon, the brands that win will be those that match speed with visibility, and agility with control.
Supply chain resilience isn’t just operational — it’s reputational
In 2025 and beyond, supply chain resilience won’t just be measured by how well you weather tariff hikes or shipping delays. It will be defined by how well you protect your brand, your customers, and your business integrity — no matter where in the world your products are made.
Because in the race to adapt, those who monitor win.
Learn how you can find, prioritize, and remove counterfeit and gray market listings with industry-leading Brand Protection and monitoring technology.
Talk to one of our Brand Protection experts today.
