Global supply chains don’t bend; they break and rebuild. When U.S. tariffs threaten to spike costs overnight, as we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, a retailer may decide to cut vendor ties with a Chinese logistics firm, opting instead for one in Vietnam in an effort to shield their company from a massive hit to their profit margin. In this scenario, the retailer would want their contract with the new vendor to move as quickly as possible. But instead, it stalls, tangled in a web of security reviews that drag on for weeks, bleeding revenue and momentum. Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly, but the norm, when it comes to vetting new vendors.
The proposed tariffs coming out of the White House over the last few weeks, including steep, triple-digit threats on Chinese goods, are forcing companies to overhaul their supplier networks at breakneck speed. Yet, as procurement teams scramble, many hit an inevitable bottleneck: the security review process — a critical but outdated hurdle that’s becoming a literal dealbreaker for many supply chain negotiations.
Trade Tension Places Pressure on New Contracts
Economic stakes in the U.S. are currently at a fever pitch, with tariffs poised to add an estimated $400 billion to U.S. import taxes annually, hitting tech, automotive, and retail especially hard. China’s retaliatory restrictions on raw materials like gallium, which are essential for building computer chips, are tightening the screws. Add in other external headwinds, like Red Sea shipping disruptions, and working with global supply chains starts to feel a lot like navigating a minefield.
Companies are now being forced to diversify vendors, often on short notice. But every new vendor requires security diligence, and that’s where even the fastest of deal negotiations can break down.
Security Reviews: The Silent Growth Killer
Security reviews, once a back-office chore, now gatekeep business continuity. With regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and SOC 2 compliance tightening, even midsize deals face questionnaires spanning hundreds of questions — some redundant, others bespoke. The process ties up procurement, legal, and engineering teams, delaying vendor onboarding and competitive deals.
“We hear it all the time,” said Pukar Hamal, CEO of SecurityPal, a San Francisco-based firm tackling compliance friction. “A deal is ready to close, but security review requests pop up at the last second, often without warning. Suddenly your team is scrambling to dig up documentation, pull in a security lead, and burn valuable hours — all to answer repetitive questions that you’ve answered dozens of times before.”
He went on to add, “In our own research, we found that the average security review takes 9.2 hours to complete when handled manually.” He also noted that it’s not uncommon for reviews to last several weeks.
That’s valuable time stolen from innovation or cost-cutting, especially when tariffs already squeeze margins. For a retailer racing to secure a new supplier before their next big holiday sale, those hours translate to millions in lost revenue.
“It’s a paradox,” Hamal said. “Companies are spending billions on sales enablement tools to move faster, but then they hit a wall at the finish line because security processes haven’t kept up.”
The Trust Gap in a Volatile World
This isn’t just a tech problem; it’s a strategic one. As tariffs and geopolitics reshape markets, speed becomes crucial for survival. Yet, many firms still rely on spreadsheets and email chains for security reviews, antiquated processes of a slower era.
Consider a mid-size SaaS company eyeing a new cloud provider to cut costs. The vendor’s price is right, but a 400-question security assessment lands, demanding details on encryption, incident response, and third-party audits. Engineers are pulled from product work, legal scrambles for certifications, and the deal grinds to a halt. Meanwhile, competitors with streamlined or blockchain-based processes charge ahead.
TrustOps: Rewriting the Rules of Compliance
Enter TrustOps, a nascent category aiming to make trust as agile as business itself. SecurityPal, founded in 2021, is a leader here, serving high-growth firms like OpenAI, Figma, and Snap. Its platform blends large language models with expert analysts to map questionnaires to a company’s security posture, completing its reviews over 100x faster than traditional processes.
“We think about trust the way DevOps thought about infrastructure a decade ago,” Hamal said. “It should be automated, monitored, and designed for scale. If it takes two weeks and four people to respond to a standard security questionnaire, something’s broken.”
SecurityPal’s edge lies in its hybrid model. Unlike fully automated tools that falter on custom questions, it pairs AI with human oversight, ensuring precision and locking in customer trust.
“We’re entering an era where trust is a competitive edge,” Hamal said. “It’s not enough to be compliant. You need to show that you’re trustworthy, and do it in a way that doesn’t slow the business down.”
A Future Built on Trust
As tariffs redraw supply chains and geopolitics tests resilience, trust will separate the winners from the rest. Companies that seize this moment to rewire how they operate will be prepared for whatever curveball comes next.
The alternative is much more costly to both a company’s bottom line and its longevity. Firms stuck in manual processes risk losing deals, suppliers, and market share. In a world where a single tariff tweet can upend sourcing, that’s a bet few can afford.
