Critical Global Sourcing Risks & Solutions 2026

Managing Global Sourcing Risk in 26-Regionalisation and Supplier Management

Global sourcing has been at the heart of business strategy for decades, enabling companies to leverage cost efficiencies, access specialized skills, and tap into global markets. However, the supply chain disruptions of recent years, geopolitical uncertainties, rising costs, and evolving trade policies have forced companies to rethink traditional global sourcing strategies. As we approach 2026, the risk landscape is shifting profoundly, with increased emphasis on regionalisation and nearshoring, alongside significant market shifts that create new challenges and opportunities for global sourcing and procurement teams worldwide

Understanding the Landscape of Global Sourcing Risks in 2025 

In 2025, sourcing teams globally continue to face a complex array of risks stemming from geopolitical instability, economic volatility, labour challenges, environmental compliance pressures, and rising cyber vulnerabilities. Between ongoing conflicts (such as the Russia-Ukraine war), protectionist trade policies, inflationary pressures, and the persistent threat of supply chain shocks, companies are grappling with unpredictability affecting cost, availability, and continuity of supply. 

One of the biggest drivers during 2025 has been geopolitical tensions resulting in tariff upheavals, export controls, and sanctions, which introduce uncertainty into planning and supplier relationships. Labour and human rights issues, especially in sourcing countries reliant on intermediaries, pose not only operational but major reputational risks. Environmental and sustainability compliance requirements—such as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and stricter ESG standards—are increasing the complexity of supplier management. Together, these risks mean sourcing teams must constantly monitor more variables and conduct deeper due diligence than ever before.  Mathias Cormann Secretary-General of the OECD highlights the need for a “Balanced approach to mitigating supply chain risks without undermining the upside benefits that come with expanding international trade. 

The Changing Risk Map for 2026: The Rise of Regionalization and Nearshoring 

Among the most significant shifts in the risk landscape for 2026 are moves towards regionalisation and nearshoring. These trends fundamentally reconfigure how companies approach their supply networks. 

Regionalization refers to the strategic restructuring of supply chains to be more regionally focused rather than spanning the globe end-to-end. The impetus is to reduce exposure to geopolitical disruptions, lengthy transit routes, and logistical vulnerabilities. For example, many European companies are increasingly sourcing within Europe or from closer neighboring regions such as Turkey rather than Asia. Similarly, North American companies—especially those in the U.S.—are pivoting sourcing to Mexico and Latin America rather than China and Southeast Asia. This structural shift aims to build supply chains that are shorter, easier to manage, more visible, and less subject to the “black swan” shocks seen during the pandemic or sudden trade disputes.  

Nearshoring is a related but more specific strategy of relocating manufacturing and procurement activities closer to the home market, often to neighboring countries or those within the same economic zone. Nearshoring improves responsiveness, reduces lead times, and simplifies compliance with local regulations on labor, environmental standards, and trade. For example, many U.S. companies are nearshoring operations to Mexico to benefit from geographic proximity, cultural affinities, and existing trade agreements like USMCA. Nearshoring also facilitates better collaboration due to overlapping time zones and reduced language or cultural barriers

How Regionalisation and Nearshoring Drive New Risks for Sourcing Teams 

While regionalization and nearshoring offer resilience and control advantages, they introduce a new set of challenges and risks that procurement and sourcing teams must navigate carefully: 

1. Supplier Concentration and Market Saturation Risks
   Nearshoring often means concentrating sourcing in fewer, geographically closer markets. This concentration can create fragility if these supplier hubs face natural disasters, political unrest, or economic downturns. The capacity in popular nearshoring destinations such as Mexico, Turkey, or Portugal can become constrained as companies rush to relocate or expand production, potentially leading to inflated supplier costs and limited negotiation power.  
2. Cost and Inflationary Pressures
   Moving operations closer to home often comes at a higher labour or operational cost compared to traditional low-cost countries in Asia. Inflationary pressures and wage increases in nearshoring countries add to these challenges. Sourcing teams must carefully balance cost increases against operational benefits, ensuring margin protection without losing the strategic resilience gained.  
3. Complex Transition and Implementation Timelines
   Establishing new regional supply bases, manufacturing setups, or logistics networks can take years to come to fruition. The footprint shift involves regulatory approvals, infrastructure investments, and new supplier qualification processes, often with unpredictable delays. Sourcing teams must therefore anticipate transition risks and manage existing supplier dependencies simultaneously to avoid disruption.  
4. Diverse Regulatory and Compliance Environments
   Regionalization does not reduce regulatory complexity but rather shifts it to new jurisdictions with varying labor laws, environmental standards, and trade rules. For example, moving sourcing to Mexico or Turkey requires sourcing teams to become adept at local compliance and supplier auditing frameworks that differ from those used with Asian suppliers.  
5. Talent and Capability Gaps in New Regions
   Regions emerging as sourcing hubs may lack the skilled labor pool or specialized suppliers that were long-established in Asia. Procurement must invest in supplier development and capability building, working closely with local partners to raise quality and operational standards to global levels.  
6. Supply Chain Visibility and Technology Integration
   Regional supply chains may sometimes fragment visibility due to differing IT practices or smaller supplier networks. Sourcing teams must accelerate adoption of digital tools, data analytics, and real-time monitoring to maintain end-to-end oversight even as the physical footprint changes  

The upside risk of nearshoring or regionalizing is clear, however there is a degree of inherent risk is these strategies as markets like Mexico, Turkey and India can all have uniquely complex geopolitical trade environments. Domestic trade policies can be unpredictable at times making the smooth quick and seamless sourcing transitions challenging to deliver and manage for long term benefit. 

ET2C International Global Sourcing Experts 

ET2C are a British owned global sourcing company with over 24 year’s experience in making our clients sourcing simple. Our 210 colleagues are based on the ground in developed and emerging sourcing markets (China, Vietnam, Turkey and India) to ensure on the ground execution of your sourcing strategy. Our teams work with our clients to deliver 

• Rapid margin growth  
• Supplier search, validation and management 
• Supply chain visibility 
• Quality and compliance controls 
• Supply chain risk management  

 Our teams work with a range of international clients from the USA, Europe and the UK to create and execute effective sourcing strategies, manage supply partners, create supply chain visibility and turnaround failing suppliers. To learn more about how we can rapidly bring visibility to your supply chain and  turn around underperforming suppliers drop us a line Contact@et2cint.com / www.et2c.com

Practical Recommendations for Global Sourcing & Procurement Teams in 2026 

To address these evolving risks, sourcing and procurement teams need to adopt a more strategic, agile, and technology-enabled approach: 

• Build Regional Supplier Ecosystems
  Invest in developing diversified regional and nearshoring supplier portfolios rather than reliance on a few ‘go-to’ partners. Seek suppliers with strong risk management, digital maturity, and sustainable practices. 
• Enhance Transition Planning and Risk Mitigation
  Approach sourcing footprint shifts with multiyear, phased plans that include contingency strategies. Maintain some legacy supplier relationships during transitions to avoid gaps. 
• Expand Regulatory and Compliance Expertise
  Establish dedicated teams or partner with local experts to stay ahead of jurisdiction-specific labor, environmental, and trade rules to minimize compliance-related disruptions. 
• Adopt Advanced Digital Supply Chain Technologies
  Deploy supply chain risk management platforms and analytics for real-time visibility, scenario modeling, and rapid response to disruptions. Transparency along tier 2 and 3 suppliers is critical. 
• Balance Cost and Resilience
  Regularly reassess total landed costs including risk premiums related to political, natural, and economic disruptions versus pure unit cost savings. 
• Engage in Continuous Supplier Development
  Work collaboratively with regional suppliers to address quality, capacity, and sustainability gaps through training and technology transfer. 
• Scenario Planning and Stress Tests
  Use simulations to anticipate regional risks such as currency fluctuations, social unrest, climate events, or logistic bottlenecks, and build flexibility into contracts. 

Navigating Supply Chain Risk and Ensuring Complexity with Agility 

The sourcing risk map is undeniably shifting as 2026 approaches. Regionalization and nearshoring are not mere buzzwords but strategic imperatives driven by lessons learned from recent global disruptions and shifting geopolitical realities. While they bring operational benefits and risk mitigation opportunities, these transitions introduce new complexities spanning cost, compliance, capacity, and visibility. 

Now is the time for global sourcing and procurement teams to build effective regionalisation plans, the way forward is not to retreat to old models of lowest price global supplier hunting but to embrace resilient, transparent, and regionally diversified sourcing ecosystems empowered by technology, augmented with compliance intelligence, and guided by adaptive planning. Teams that can master this balance will not only insulate their companies from the shocks of today’s global risk environment but also unlock competitive advantage in tomorrow’s emerging markets. To learn more about how to build a comprehensive regionalization strategy that secures your supply from risk and builds competitive advantage talk to the experts at ET2C International.