August 2026 Global Trade, Customs and Shipping Policy Update for Exporters

©iStock/thitivong

This website is designed as a quick-reference compliance resource for monthly planning. If your business trades across multiple markets, use it to coordinate procurement, pricing, logistics, customs brokerage, and customer communication in one place. 

The overview focuses on official measures that are effective or applicable in August 2026, while also flagging items that should not be mistaken for August-start rules.

Are You Chasing a Future That Isn't Actually Being Built?

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Love this Opinion Guest Essay by Julie Averill, a former chief information officer of Lululemon. 

Averill says, "Companies these days are quick to stick “A.I.” in news releases, in earnings calls, in product names, in job postings and in titles at the top of their organizations. The real question is what strategy sits behind the abbreviation. A title costs nothing, but it doesn’t produce anything, either."

And she says that's a problem.  

When companies mistake an announcement for a strategy, they spend real money — and sometimes cut real jobs – chasing a future that isn’t actually being built. And in doing so, they’re persuading Americans to reject a powerful innovation that could do so much good for all of us.

Company leaders think A.I. is magic.  But Averill says the way out of this is not more hype. It’s honesty.

Read Averill's entire Opinion Guest Essay for the NY Times here.

wegg® showcase with Jacquie Cleary at Atlas (August, 2026)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global.  All rights reserved.

The latest wegg® showcase interview (8/3/26) with Jacquie Cleary, Founder and CEO, Atlas, Making "What Ifs?" Possible for Her Clients and Employees.

Today in Global Small Business: Global Engagement At Schools

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Global entrepreneurship program (global engagement) – UC Santa Cruz
• Global entrepreneurship program – Gies College of Business
• Global entrepreneurship program – Penn GSE
• Quote of the week: “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.” – Peter Drucker
• Global entrepreneurship program – Babson Global
• Global entrepreneurship program – Stanford University

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!   

The Secret to Getting Ahead

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." – Mark Twain

Generative AI Could Boost Creativity, But Only For Some

©iStock/Volodymyr Kryshtal

The new data, in “How and For Whom Using Generative AI Affects Creativity: A Field Experiment,” was recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. For the study, the researchers conducted an experiment to find out exactly who is getting a creative boost from the technology and why. 

Some are getting it but there's a catch.

90% of U.S. Tariffs Are Paid For by Importers or Consumers

©iStock/Yau Ming Low

Robert Krol is an emeritus professor of economics at California State University, Northridge/InsideSources.

He writes, "Despite the president’s claim that foreign exporters are paying the tariffs, research shows that at least 90% of U.S. tariffs are paid for by importers or consumers. The tariff bill has tripled over the last year for these smaller businesses. This results in a tariff bill that is $25,000 higher per month for the average small- and medium-size business."

Here he talks more about the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the president's decision to not extend it, and the impact on small- and medium-size businesses. 

Success On Her Terms (SoHT) with Laura Neiman (8/11/26)

©2026 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

"Success On Her Terms" (SoHT) is a dynamic four-part series presented by Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® and in collaboration with Merrill Lynch's Baldwin Marcovici Group.  This is the 4th installment of a four-part series.

Loving this series? Even better news – Season 2, a brand-new 4-part series, launches this November. Want first access when registration opens?  Drop a note to me (main blog page to the right) and I'll make sure you're first to know.

SoHT is designed to spotlight high-potential, growth-stage women entrepreneurs who share their personal journeys and offer actionable insights on how to align purpose, people, and profit while building and scaling a business.

Join us for the virtual *4th session* – Ensuring Your Legacy Evolves With You – on Tuesday, August 11th at 11 AM CT with Laura Neiman, President and CEO of Neiman Brothers Company, Inc., a manufacturer, importer and distributor of food products.

Laura Neiman represents the third generation of her family who is dedicated to growing and continuing the 100+ year old business that manufactures, processes and distributes a full line of ingredients. She has been instrumental in driving the development and expansion into complementary categories as she has cultivated new opportunities in the ever-changing food industry.

What's in it for you?

📌 Walk away with one concrete takeaway: how to build a business – and a legacy – that keeps evolving instead of standing still.

To learn more and to register (free of charge) for Program 4 in this exciting series, visit:

https://womenentrepreneursgrowglobal.org/programs/success-on-her-terms/ 

It's a LIVE event and moderated by Alexandra Didac, CPWA®, CRPC™, CEPA®, whose wealth planning expertise will shape a conversation on what "legacy" really means for a growing business.

See you there!

It's Never Too Late to Change the Playbook For Your Image

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Bernard Arnault has spent decades carefully cultivating the image of some of the world’s most sought after brands, from Louis Vuitton to Dior. Now the LVMH chief is changing tactics when it comes to his own. 

The billionaire published an acerbic open letter attacking one of France’s top newspapers on Sunday, taking aim at a six-part examination of his political connections, media ownership and the question of who will eventually succeed him at the top of his luxury empire. On Monday, the 77-year-old took to social-media platform X for the first time to amplify his uncharacteristic missive.

The new approach comes as Arnault has grown increasingly frustrated with how he and his family are being portrayed.  

Admirers credit Arnault with turning brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior into global powerhouses and helping establish France as the dominant force in the luxury industry. As such, he has the right to exercise control over the use of his image and how he is portrayed.

Today in Global Small Business: Trump's Obsession With More and More Tariffs

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Tariffs are an obsession for President Trump, much as climate was for the Biden Administration. How else to explain his imposition of yet another round of border taxes three months before the November election despite their political unpopularity and economic harm?
• ChatGPT for small businesses.
• Latest tariff update(s) from Global-e.
• Quote of the week:  “The European Union questioned the new tariff, with its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas calling it a “negative surprise” and rejecting the forced labor claims as unfounded."
• How people are really using AI in 2026 (HBR).
• What's going to happen with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement?

Note:  The Global Small Business Blog has been in operation since 2004 and is ranked number one in the world for entrepreneurs and small businesses interested in going global.  As of May, 2026, we average between 700,000-900,000 readers a month.  Thank you for your engagement!  

The Advent of Motorola and the Car Radio

©2026 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Intrigued by the idea of portable radios, Paul and Joseph [Galvin] soon gravitated toward finding a solution for an affordable radio mounted in the car itself. In June 1930, the brothers enlisted the help of inventors Elmer Wavering and William Lear to retrofit Paul’s Studebaker with a radio. 

During the project, Paul and Joseph decided to rename their business to Motorola: “motor” for motor vehicle, and “ola,” which was derived from the company Victrola, the preeminent phonograph manufacturer, to evoke the idea of music.

Where Does the Industry Get Its Talent?

dusanpetkovic 

Using data from 40,000 job boards and networking sites, Cole and colleagues from the Project on Impact Investing at HBS tracked the professional trajectories of almost 350,000 MBAs. They focused on graduates from the top 25 US business schools ranked by US News and World Report in 2024, narrowing the pool to 832 working in impact investing.

Find out who's hiring and where.