
Labor violations such as forced labor, child labor, illegal wage structures and health and safety malpractice in unassuming markets such as the United States have been identified as being among the greatest risks to supply chain sustainability in 2025, according to a new report by LRQA, highlighting trends data from EiQ.
“While it could be argued that global supply chains have never faced such a complex web of connected challenges, business leaders are faced with a huge opportunity to overcome them by investing in data, advanced technologies and global expertise,” says Kevin Franklin, chief product officer at LRQA. “Our goal in sharing these trends is to guide better data-driven decision-making and inform the design of more impactful supply chain sustainability and risk management programs. Every responsible business will have its own unique needs, but by placing real-time data and ESG right at the heart of business strategy, leaders can turn the dial from reactive risk management to empowered and data-driven proactivity.”
Key takeaways:
- Shifting policies and administrations, specifically in the United States following the 2024 election, are set to impact the supply chain risk and global trade agendas.
- The EiQ report predicts that these will be accompanied by tighter immigration policies, backlash against environmental, social, governance (ESG) movements and growing scrutiny over corporate responsibility. All of this will have a deep impact on supply chain redesign, which will create new and evolving risks for stakeholders.
- Also among the most pertinent risks posed to supply chains is the slow progress toward ESG targets, driven by what the report describes as a “regulatory soup” comprising a myriad of reporting laws and due diligence requirements. The tendency for businesses to prioritize short-term profitability over long-term ESG resilience is highlighted as being a reason behind the growing gap between ambition, expectation and preparedness.