This Week’s Takeaway
A low-cost sourcing country can become more expensive when production disruptions, unreliable delivery, or lost tariff benefits erode its initial price advantage.
Bangladesh’s energy crisis highlights the cost of keeping factories running, Central America’s import declines underscore the need to evaluate actual supplier performance rather than regional trends, and the new AGOA limits make preferential tariff treatment conditional on specific rules and quantity caps.
The sourcing decision is not which country looks cheapest on paper, but which supplier can deliver the best total cost with reliable production and the tariff treatment your order actually qualifies for.