Global Trade Regulations 2025

1. Global Trade Regulations: Key Takeaways

• Geopolitical uncertainty is now a cost driver: Rapid tariff changes, sanctions, and investment screening force companies to rethink sourcing strategies. The China+1 model offers diversification but requires strict origin compliance to preserve U.S. and EU market access.
• Sustainability and human rights rules reshape trade eligibility: Regulations like the EU CBAM, EU Deforestation Regulation, and U.S. UFLPA make emissions reporting, deforestation-free proof, and forced-labor audits prerequisites for cross-border shipments, with billions of dollars already detained.

2. Overview of Global Trade (September 2025)

Global trade in September 2025 continues to be shaped by policy uncertainty, reported by United Nation Trade & Development.

Sudden changes in tariffs, subsidies, and restrictions have become common, disrupting supply chains and creating instability across markets. The United States stands out—its role as the world’s largest importer means even modest policy shifts ripple through global trade, reshaping supply chains worldwide.

However, this uncertainty is not always accidental. Many governments use ambiguity strategically, adjusting regulations to respond to domestic pressure or gain leverage in negotiations. Unlike earlier decades, where trade agreements acted as stabilizers, today’s environment is far more volatile, especially with competition intensifying for critical raw materials.

Trade policy uncertainty impacts the global economy in three key ways:\

• Higher costs, slower growth: Companies spend more on extra inventory, hedging, and redesigning supply chains. These higher costs discourage new investment.\
• Risks to financial stability: Rapid policy swings unsettle exchange rates, shake investor confidence, and limit credit flows.\
• Erosion of trust: Without stable rules, retaliation becomes more common, making cooperation harder.

The timing of these changes worsens the impact. For example, before new tariffs kick in, firms rush to ship goods, a practice called front-loading. This temporarily spikes imports (like the surge in U.S. air shipments early in 2025), followed by sharp declines when tariffs take effect. As a result:\

• Advanced economies can front-load high-value goods like electronics or machinery, softening the blow.\
• Developing and least-developed economies struggle more. Their exports are often bulkier commodities that cannot be easily moved on short notice. Smaller firms in these regions also lack the credit and infrastructure needed to adjust quickly, which further impacts their vulnerability.

With that being said, the role of being diversified has evidently become the biggest shield against policy shocks:\

• Businesses with multiple export markets can redirect goods when one market closes.\
• Countries with broad export bases can offset losses in one region with gains in another.\
• Trade agreements remain a valuable safety net, providing clearer rules and dispute resolution mechanisms.

Look at China’s 2025 trade market as a good example. While its exports to the US fell due to heavy tariffs, but shipments to other markets rose, showing how spreading trade ties can soften the blow of unpredictable US policies.

3. Understanding Global Trade Regulations in 2025

3.1. UK Enhanced Safety Declarations (ENS) for EU Imports

In the beginning of 2025, the Government of United Kingdom officially announced that from 31 January 2025, the UK will require importers of goods from the EU to submit expanded Entry Summary Declarations (ENS). This updated framework increases mandatory data fields to roughly twenty, covering HS codes, consignor/consignee details, transport references, and security information. The purpose is to strengthen risk targeting at the border while standardizing pre-arrival data submissions.

For companies trading into the UK, this change represents a shift from basic customs documentation to highly structured, data-driven compliance. The additional requirements increase the importance of data quality management across supply chains. Carriers, freight forwarders, and importers will need synchronized systems to ensure accuracy and timeliness, since incomplete or inconsistent submissions may result in inspections, penalties, or clearance delays.

The adjustment will be most demanding for SMEs, particularly in ASEAN markets, that lack digital compliance platforms.

However, once integrated, the ENS framework promotes more predictable border processes and reduces reliance on manual intervention. For multinational corporations, the regulation underscores the trend of international trade regulations moving toward “digital-by-default” compliance environments, where accurate, auditable data streams are essential to smooth cross-border operations.

3.2. U.S. Tariff Recalibration (10% to 30%)

In early 2025, the United States is expected to increase tariffs by 10 to 30% on selected imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. Even before final implementation, the anticipation of tariff hikes has already influenced global supply chains, prompting importers to accelerate shipments, financial institutions to reassess credit exposures, and trading partners to renegotiate contracts.

For businesses, these measures represent one of the most immediate and impactful forms of international trade regulations and restrictions. A tariff adjustment directly alters landed costs and can transform product competitiveness overnight.

To mitigate risks, companies must ensure strict compliance with rules of origin under USMCA, verify HS code classifications, and maintain clean valuation documentation to withstand customs audits.

Practical responses include simulating cost structures under different tariff scenarios, diversifying sourcing strategies, and embedding tariff clauses in contracts to distribute exposure between buyers and suppliers.:

• ASEAN: selling to the U.S. may gain an advantage if buyers shift sourcing away from China.
• European: need to consider whether U.S. tariffs indirectly affect their supply chains through Mexico or Canada.
• North American: must prepare for higher costs on imports and rethink supplier diversity.

These developments reinforce the critical importance of proactive international trade compliance regulations in maintaining competitiveness and managing risk.

3.3. EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Reporting

Beginning 1 January 2025, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will require importers of carbon-intensive products, including steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, and electricity, to report verified emissions data at the product level. This is part of the EU’s strategy to align cross-border trade with its decarbonization agenda and to prevent carbon leakage.

For importers, the regulation integrates environmental accountability into international trade laws and regulations. Instead of relying on generic emission factors, companies must gather verifiable, cradle-to-gate carbon data from suppliers. This creates immediate challenges for exporters in ASEAN and other regions with limited measurement infrastructure, as EU buyers will demand credible emissions reporting as a condition for continued trade.

The reporting requirement also reshapes pricing dynamics.

The EU’s CBAM rules start fully in 2026, after a test phase from 2023–2025. Products that create more pollution during production will face extra costs, while cleaner goods will be cheaper and more competitive. Companies that cut emissions or share clear data will have an advantage in the EU market.

For traders and manufacturers alike, CBAM is evidence of how sustainability considerations are becoming embedded within international trade regulations and restrictions, turning carbon data into a critical variable in supply chain strategy.

3.4. China’s Stricter Export Controls on High-Tech Goods

In mid-2025, China expanded its export controls on sensitive and high-tech goods, directly affecting global supply chains. A key step was Announcement No. 18, which from April 4, 2025, requires special non-automatic export licenses for seven rare earth elements and permanent magnets, materials critical to electronics, defense, and clean energy. At the same time, China added more dual-use items (products that can be used for both civilian and military purposes) to its control lists and updated its technology export catalogs.

For global companies, this means greater scrutiny when sourcing from China, potential delays in obtaining licenses, and rising costs for industries dependent on rare earths and semiconductors. It also signals China’s broader strategy: using export controls not only to protect national security but also to influence trade negotiations and secure its position in strategic industries.

In this case, exporters and importers alike will need to strengthen compliance infrastructure by performing enhanced due diligence, verifying end-use certificates, and maintaining comprehensive documentation to satisfy regulatory audits. Trade finance institutions are also expected to increase compliance checks, which may slow transaction approvals and extend shipment lead times if documentation is incomplete.

The implications extend beyond paperwork. Product design and sales strategies may need to be reconfigured to reduce exposure to controlled classifications, while multinational corporations will likely expand dual sourcing to mitigate risk.

For ASEAN suppliers and North American or European buyers, this environment emphasizes the need for real-time compliance monitoring and closer coordination across legal, logistics, and sales functions. China’s tightening controls illustrate how international trade laws and regulations are increasingly entwined with geopolitical strategy, forcing companies to embed compliance into core business planning.

3.5. Convergence of Sustainability, AI, and Data Privacy

The year 2025 is marked by the convergence of sustainability requirements, artificial intelligence regulation, and data privacy laws into a unified compliance agenda.

The EU’s AI Act introduces a risk-tiered framework where unacceptable-risk systems are prohibited, high-risk systems require strict oversight, and even general-purpose AI must meet transparency obligations such as labeling AI-generated content and publishing summaries of training data.

Alongside this, the EU Data Act establishes new rules for data portability and access, complementing the growing number of GDPR-style privacy regimes adopted globally.

For international trade, these frameworks extend compliance obligations far beyond physical goods. Customs digitization, electronic bills of lading, and AI-driven compliance tools all rely on sensitive data flows that must be managed in line with privacy and transparency rules. At the same time, sustainability initiatives such as CBAM, forced-labor prevention measures, and deforestation-free regulations require companies to provide verifiable evidence of ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility.

For ASEAN exporters, this means European and North American partners will increasingly require proof of data integrity, AI governance, and ESG compliance before finalizing contracts. European firms must set the benchmark in implementing these frameworks, while North American businesses will need to adapt quickly to maintain market access.

The overall result is a compliance environment where international trade compliance regulations demand not only paperwork but verifiable proof of sustainability, ethical practices, and responsible data management.

4. Conclusion

Understanding global trade regulations in 2025 is all about disruption and precision. UK’s enhanced entry declarations push supply chains toward “digital-by-default” compliance. U.S. tariff recalibrations instantly reshape landed costs. EU’s CBAM forces carbon accounting into every shipment. China’s export controls heighten scrutiny on high-tech goods. And the convergence of AI and data privacy laws means compliance is now auditable, real-time proof.

For global trade companies, the upcoming challenge is synchronizing all of these moving parts without losing competitiveness. That’s where yTrade makes a difference. With AI-powered supply chain mapping, real-time compliance alerts, and clear risk insights, yTrade helps you see problems before they hit your shipments and find safer, faster trade routes. Visit us now!