ISM Reports: The Impact of Brexit on Trade and Distribution

The long-term impact of Brexit on European supply chains is yet to be determined, but some early results are in. Just days after the U.K.'s controversial vote to leave the European Union, the Institute for Supply Management polled procurement executives to learn how they felt about the move. According to ISM, it was the first publicly available analysis of the impact of Brexit on U.S. companies, drawing on data collected directly from them. Two weeks after the historic June 23 vote, we spoke with ISM chief executive officer Thomas W. Derry about the results of that survey. He joins us on this episode to discuss how supply chains and distribution strategies in Europe might shape up in the post-Brexit era. Surprisingly, the ISM report reveals relatively little concern over the impact of Brexit on U.S. procurement managers. At the same time, it addresses potentially explosive issues such as the health of financial markets, currency movements, capital spending and labor-use patterns. Discover how U.S. companies might have to shift their European distribution strategies without Britain being part of the E.U. In addition, Derry shares his view about whether Brexit represents an about-face of the decades-long trend toward globalization.