The idea that the mutual benefits arising from trade encourage peaceful relations between nations is often attributed to 18th century Enlightenment thinkers, aptly enough from both sides of the Channel, but nearly two thousand years ago Plutarch wrote that sea trade allowed states to “redress defects” in their relationships through mutual exchange. 

‘Doux commerce’ (meaning sweet or gentle commerce) encapsulates this idea and posits further benefits that include fostering trust, integrity, tolerance, and fairness. It’s a lot with which to burden a theory, and in its modern guise as globalization there are detractors who point out that it can create more inequality and exploitation.

But globalisation is not that new; from the ancient Silk Roads through the Industrial Revolution, trade has expanded by creating shorter, faster routes, and ever-better technologies by which to transport goods along those routes.

Today, shipping goods around the world has never been more competitive, which for businesses that rely on it means better service, lower costs, and more options.

Powered by a plethora of inventions, innovations, and ideas, today’s global trading ecosystem is vast, complex, and highly competitive.

Yet it is driven by seeking to meet a single, simple need; someone, somewhere, wants to buy something from someone else, somewhere else.

Making that happen, quickly, cost-effectively, and securely, is what drives that global ecosystem. It is behind the explosive growth in ecommerce and the supply chains that underpin virtually all of the world’s manufacturing operations.

So, when trade is disrupted, through man-made interventions like war or tariff manipulation, there are serious consequences.

For example, the USA accounted for 13% of the UK’s total exports in April 2025, down from 21% the previous month. Exports to the US fell by a staggering 47% compared to March 2025, according to UK government figures.

The Office for National Statistics suggested this was “likely linked to the implementation of tariffs on goods imported to the United States”.

Perhaps not a hugely surprising conclusion, but clearly one of major importance.

Where there’s a will 

Companies can mitigate the impact of tariffs in several ways, perhaps the most obvious of which is simply to source products and components from other, unaffected, countries. A more radical move would be to shift production to countries where the damaging tariffs don’t apply.

For example, Apple is currently shifting some manufacturing from China to India and Vietnam.

But just think about that for a moment; for an earlier generation, peaceful relations between the United States and Vietnam seemed impossible, yet today the two countries are deeply involved in mutually beneficial commerce.

Anyway, these options are superficially attractive but come with significant challenges, not least cost and delay.

Alternatively, companies can adjust their prices – seeking to recover profits from their customers; again, a difficult choice as demand could easily fall.

Several other options, including entering into cost-sharing agreements with suppliers, either temporarily or via discounts, could alleviate some of the pressure.

Other possibilities include the use of Free Trade Zones, whereby goods can be imported into the United States but kept in bonded warehouses – no tariffs are due whilst they remain there.

For ecommerce traders there are opportunities to structure shipments such that they fall within the destination country’s tariff thresholds, including the ‘de minimis’ threshold (on which more below). This can streamline logistics and improve delivery times, critical considerations for the global ecommerce trader.

A practical approach is to work with a logistics company that understands all these options such that it can advise on the best way to cope. They will typically have the ability to choose optimal routing that minimises costs and/or delivery times, made possible by having strong relationships with the major carriers and local delivery partners.

Working with such a partner can also help with the sometimes onerous paperwork associated with international shipments.

Maximising de minimis 

The UK is the third largest ecommerce market in the world, after China and the US, according to US government’s International Trade Administration.

De minimis thresholds are set by each country and imported goods below those values do not attract tax or duties. It is a scheme that works very well to support global ecommerce, which typically consists of huge numbers of small, relatively low value, packages.

In the US, de minimis is set at $800. In the EU de minimis is set at 150 Euro, and in the UK it is £135.

A report from Reuters notes that the number of de minimis packages entering the US approached 1.4 billion in 2024, largely due to online shopping. This would soon overrun customs operations, and the major parcel carriers, if they had to process taxes and duties on every package.

The report adds, “More than 90% of all packages coming into the U.S. now enter via de minimis.”

Removing de minimis exemptions could cripple ecommerce shipments across the world, but perhaps there is a case for lowering the threshold.

Conclusions

It is a truth self-evident that peace is necessary for trade to be conducted freely.

But the relationship is reciprocal: trade can also be the foundation for peaceful relations. Commerce breeds trust.

The impacts of man-made disruptions to trade can be mitigated in a number of ways, but perhaps the best approach is to seek expert help.

Ultimately, if asked what to do when faced with challenges to the global trading order, the answer is – doux commerce.