I n 1776, Adam Smith wrote “The Wealth of Nations,” which advocated for trade without restriction as an economic premise. The US trade history dates back to this time, and since the last century, the US has been one of the top 3 exporters and importers in the world.

In the late 60s, Pacific Trade began to rapidly accelerate, propelled by the invention of the container and newly emerging economies such as Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. All four of these countries were democratic, and had significant US ties. The move abroad was led by companies such as Nike, Schwinn, Sears, and JCPenney, who were all early adopters and innovators at the time.

At the same time, modern international logistics also emerged, largely led by big carriers like APL, Sealand, and Maersk. The efficiency of containers led to other massive technology & innovation in logistics. In 1988 for example, APL was offering EDI Order Management, container tracking, double stack trains, and reliable, fast vessel service (21 days from Asia to NY). Their sales teams even had cell phones and Apple computers.

When China began to emerge and open in the 1980s, production from “the four dragons” began to move there to pursue abundant labor at lower costs. The factories were primarily led by managers of these former countries as China did not have the expertise.

What China did have, however, was a vision.

In many respects, it was rough sledding at the beginning as China did not have the infrastructure or technology to deal with the growth. But what they lacked in experience, they made up for with massive available labor pools and a series of 5-year plans including infrastructure. China is now working on their 14th 5-year plan.

The 80s also saw the introduction of the modern freight forwarder who provided a one-stop shop for importers. Companies like Fritz and Expeditors were innovators in the early days, providing complex solutions, a one stop shop, creating the capability for importers to be extremely agile.