Supply chains must be flexible and resilient to terrorist and cyberattacks
By Marek Grzybowski
Coordinated action is needed to strengthen supply chains. Unfortunately, deglobalization has not reached the implementation phase. Attempts to turn the Mississippi back with a stick have so far yielded limited results. President Donald Trump’s restrictions and protectionist actions have caused panic on global markets. US tariff policy has introduced additional confusion into already strained global logistics networks.
Moving all production within national borders would harm economic growth and undermine, rather than strengthen, the resilience of the supply chain, suggest the authors of the latest report “OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review”, published in May this year.
– Recent disruptions, bottlenecks in transport networks and growing concerns about economic security indicate the need to strengthen and diversify supply chains – suggest the authors of the OECD Report. The need to build flexible and effective management that takes into account new risks is emphasized.
The authors of the report suggest actions to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain in the face of many new global challenges. The OECD produced the report to “help businesses and governments cope with uncertainty without withdrawing from international trade.”
The OECD report states that “most trade flows remain relatively diverse, although import concentration is rising as countries increasingly source products from fewer suppliers than is globally possible.”
Source: „OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review”, 2025
Policymakers influence supply chain efficiency
“Policymakers have a range of tools at their disposal to identify and manage supply chain risks,” says Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General, emphasising that “These tools will need to be balanced to ensure that they do not unduly offset the benefits of global trade by affecting competition, innovation, productivity, efficiency and ultimately economic growth.”
He argues that “well-functioning, competitive and diversified global markets can be a key factor in economic resilience.” Market research suggests that the number of products originating from a limited set of suppliers is 50% higher in the early 2020s than in the late 1990s. This trend could increase vulnerability to external shocks.
However, this trend is almost entirely driven by non-OECD countries, as the level of significant import concentration in OECD countries has remained stable over the period. China’s contribution to the level of significant import concentration in countries has increased from 5% to 30% over the past 25 years, while the combined contribution of the United States, Germany and Japan has fallen from 30% to 15%.
– Responses to concerns about security of supply and market concentration, as well as long-term transformations in trade flows, create risks of undesirable distortions. To ensure that trade continues to underpin our shared prosperity and to ensure that trade meets the expectations of our citizens, we must work together to make our supply chains more reliable and resilient, said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.
He noted that “as we consider the future of trade, we should always remember its contribution to raising living standards around the world.” He said that “the OECD will continue to support dialogue, offer insights and provide robust evidence-based analysis to help governments make globalisation work better for people.”
Source: EIA, 2025
Globalization is better than localization
The study found that policies aimed at relocalizing, or moving production closer to markets, could result in “global trade shrinking by more than 18% and global real GDP shrinking by more than 5%. In fact, GDP stability would shrink in more than half of the economies analyzed, undermining claims that deglobalization is safer and more stabilizing for economies.
The study also found that production disruptions caused by supply disruptions vary significantly across sectors. Strategic manufacturing sectors are most vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. Special attention is recommended for industries that are important for national security.
Uninterrupted supplies of energy resources and products containing components necessary for electronics production are of great importance. According to the authors of the report, “Shocks in domestic sectors often have a greater impact than those resulting from disruptions occurring at foreign producers”.
Digital transformation and policies implementing environmental protection processes are changing global supply chains. Laws and regulations enforcing environmental protection affect supply chains. Decarbonization, the development of renewable energy markets can generate almost half of global economic production directly or indirectly.
It is stated directly that “Regulations that aim to ensure a reduction in the negative impact of industry on the environment and society increase operating costs and are particularly burdensome for small and medium-sized enterprises and companies in developing economies”. Digital transformation also has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it can facilitate the management of supply chains, but it introduces new threats, such as cyberattacks and dependence on a limited number of global service providers.
The resilience of global supply chains and the overall efficiency of logistics networks must be built by all communities. The role of governments is important here. Government decisions can contribute significantly to the coordination of logistics and production on a global scale. The OECD calls for the development of a policy framework that will strengthen economic links through logistics.
The OECD appeals: “Governments should take proactive policy approaches, including promoting trade facilitation to increase the efficiency of trade procedures, reducing trade barriers in the service sectors that underpin supply chains.” This means supporting actions that facilitate international transport and finance.
It is necessary to support computerization in supply chains. At the same time, governments must support actions that allow for the implementation of solutions ensuring IT security in relation to cross-border data flows. “International cooperation and close coordination with the private sector are key to the development and implementation of these approaches,” argue the authors of the report “OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review.”
Source: „OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review”, 2025
To support decision-makers, the OECD Report has characterized each OECD member country in terms of monitoring the degree of interdependence of countries with trading partners and the political conditions allowing for the introduction of flexible and economically adapted supply chains.
Maritime transport highly concentrated
It is recalled that maritime transport is a key sector for efficient connections in supply chains. It is estimated that over 80% of the volume of goods traded worldwide is transported by sea – the authors of the Report refer to UNCTAD data from 2024. The 21st century has seen a significant restructuring and concentration of the market. Shipowners operate in five leading countries and have at their disposal more than half of the tonnage of the world fleet in 2024.
China maintains its leading position in terms of the number of ships and at the beginning of 2025, it also took the lead in terms of fleet value. The fleet of Chinese operators was estimated by VesselsValue at USD 255 billion. This was due to the fact that China has a large fleet of bulk carriers and container ships worth USD 68.4 billion and USD 63.5 billion, respectively.
Source: VesselsValue, 2025
This is due to the increased value of the fleet performing greater transport work, as ocean routes in most cases lead around the Cape of Good Hope. Shipowners from China also own the largest number of tankers. At the beginning of this year, they operated in all leading markets with a fleet of almost 1,800 ships, the value of which was estimated at USD 47.9 billion.
– Geopolitical tensions, unrest and protectionist measures can disrupt international trade flows and affect maritime transport routes and operations – note the authors of the OECD Report. In their opinion, “Uncertainties related to trade policy and trade barriers can discourage investment and reduce potential efficiency gains resulting from streamlining operations in maritime transport and ports”.
Environmental requirements may be unfavourable for the development of maritime transport and its competitiveness. Maritime business must develop “in an atmosphere of growing pressure to reduce the carbon footprint, in particular air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions”.
Protectionism in the maritime transport
Based on data from the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI), a number of key challenges have been identified that affect international trade in maritime transport services. One of the most important is the limited access to certain market segments and cabotage operations.
“The conditions of flying the national flag are not considered a restriction of trade per se, but in cases where flying the flag is linked to access to certain market segments, discrimination in registration under the national flag creates entry barriers for foreigners,” OECD analysts explain.
The research shows that 93% of countries covered by the STRI for maritime services impose various restrictions on the registration of ships in the national register, thus restricting the provision of maritime cabotage services. 78% of countries prohibit some cabotage services for foreign-flagged ships. On the other hand, 27% of countries were found to prohibit all cabotage by foreign operators.
Cargo sharing agreements and cargo reservations or preferences for national flagged vessels were found in over 20% of the countries surveyed. Such measures, together with strict cabotage access policies, significantly restrict the activities of foreign operators. This is the case even if it is beneficial to improve the efficiency of cargo distribution in the local market.
Source: „OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review”, 2025
Barriers in seaports
The OECD report also draws attention to the barriers to access to port services. This is justified by the fact that “Ports are often publicly owned, while port services are usually provided by private companies operating under concession agreements”.
It was found that 13% of the countries covered by the STRI restrict the provision of services in ports. For example, statutory monopolies are used here, which prevent other operators from entering seaports and river ports. Port service concessions granted with exclusive rights to operate exist in 29% of the countries surveyed. This clearly limits the scope of access to business by other providers of services performed in ports.
Discriminatory tariffs for port services apply in the main ports in 18% of the countries surveyed, and several countries allow services in ports to be performed only by local providers of port services, such as towing (29% of countries) or local port agents (13% of the countries covered by the STRI).
The operation of logistics chains in ports is affected by the fact that many ports are dominated by state ownership and limited market competition. The OECD found that “Government ownership or control of the main national shipping operators exists in over 40% of the countries surveyed. Only 11% of countries fully tolerate shipping agreements and the use of competition law, while 16% provide partial exemptions from competition restrictions. In addition, more than half of the countries (58%) provide tax breaks or other incentives for domestic shipping companies to increase the competitiveness of their domestic fleet.
The OECD emphasizes that “Reducing regulatory constraints could help strengthen the resilience and flexibility of global supply chains by improving the efficiency of maritime operations, easing potential capacity constraints and promoting greater investment in port infrastructure and services.”
The OECD study shows that competition is not as bad as “the devil of protectionism paints it.” The failure of deglobalization has made it necessary to fight for the resilience of supply chains not only against terrorist and cyberattacks. It is equally important for governments to introduce sensible regulations regarding sea and land transport and sea and river ports. An overregulated economy is also a nightmare for logistics operators and an increase in the costs of production logistics. In the end, the producer and the consumer will pay for the incompetence or delayed actions of politicians. And the entire economy, both local and global, will bear the costs.