Manufacturing solution provider Jabil Circuit Inc. has launched a service that helps supply chain operators chart a course through the current geopolitical environment by analyzing the effect of potential changes in trade, tax, and tariff policies, the company said today.

The service can optimize a user's supply chain network by helping companies better understand and respond to possible updates to global trade, tax, and tariff (T3) rules, Jabil said.

Jabil's T3 Policy Readiness Assessment service will be based on the company's Intelligent Digital Supply Chain (IDSC), a cloud-based, algorithm-driven, decision-support tool the company unveiled in May. The T3 service will provide optimization algorithms and simulations as well as data-driven insights on how to improve manufacturing agility while lowering cost and risk, Jabil says.

Manufacturing and supply chain decisions can be affected by even minor modifications to agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as well as the possible implementation of import tariffs on specific products and broader changes to bilateral trade agreements between the U.S. and other nations.

The World Trade Organization currently reports that there are more than 300 active regional trade agreements now in place. This complexity makes it extremely difficult to track the impact of changes to trade agreements without the use of sophisticated algorithms, says Jabil.

Jabil is launching this new service at a time when the Trump Administration's "America First" protectionist rhetoric has sparked uncertainty among many international trading partners about the impact of potential changes to cross-border trading policies.

"The ability to quickly analyze, assess, and execute optimal manufacturing operations locally or globally is crucial to staying competitive and relevant in the digital economy," Don Hnatyshin, senior vice president, chief supply chain & procurement officer at Jabil, said in a release. "Our new T3 Policy Readiness Assessment service is meeting an urgent need for rapid feedback based on real-world data so customers can make well-informed decisions during times of geopolitical uncertainty."

Each T3 Policy Readiness Assessment delivers benchmarking data on the costs and risks associated with manufacturing in different geographies. The assessment also measures the impact that fluctuations in trade agreement policies will have on a company's manufacturing and distribution network. Armed with that profile, U.S. companies can quickly assess potential strategic changes such as the viability of moving manufacturing closer to end-markets to better accommodate American customer demand or moving a supply base from Asia to the U.S., Jabil said.