As geopolitics and tariffs disrupt international trade, U.S. companies are facing risk throughout their global supply chains. For Coface, one of the world’s leading credit insurers, predicting this risk is core to the business and how it decides which clients and industries to insure. Now, Coface is expanding access to the business intelligence and credit-risk expertise that supports its underwriting decisions, helping companies identify potential vulnerabilities across customers and suppliers and take action earlier.
Wars are reshaping trade routes and tariffs are redrawing what companies buy from each other and at what cost. When those disruptions hit, businesses get squeezed, run short on cash and stop paying their bills. The vendors they owe money to are often the last to find out, and with the environment shifting this fast, it is just as hard to know whether a new partner in a new market is a safe bet as it is to know whether an existing one will still be solvent next quarter. A recent Coface Economic Forecast showed that North American companies have seen the largest increase in insolvencies at 22%, driving up the global number of insolvencies to 12%. Against this backdrop, Coface is helping companies place greater emphasis on risk prevention alongside financial protection.
For 80 years, Coface has relied on its data to underwrite its own risk. Through its Business Information solutions, Coface makes that intelligence available to clients to help them anticipate and mitigate their own commercial risks. Companies are using these insights to navigate tariff-driven uncertainty and:
- Detect early warning signals to help mitigate trade disruptions. Coface draws on a global database of 245 million companies across 200 countries to surface risk signals before they make public headlines. For example, when a global software company's key supplier began showing signs of financial deterioration, Coface flagged the distress months before the supplier filed for bankruptcy. The company had time to find alternatives, protect its supply chain and avoid several million in losses.
- Flag financial distress before it happens to reduce exposure. Coface tracks financial signals, such as payment behavior and credit activity, to indicate when a company is failing, often well before its problems become public. For example, Coface flagged financial distress from a major retailer two months before it collapsed. This gave its client, a major goods distributor, time to reduce its exposure and avoid millions in losses.
- Protect insured receivables when a customer defaults or becomes insolvent. When a customer cannot pay their invoice because their business fails, Coface trade credit insurance can indemnify a company for covered losses arising from the non-payment. For example, a mid-sized metals and electronics recycling company selected Coface’s TradeLiner solution to limit its exposure to customer insolvency and pursue growth with greater confidence.
- Freely expand into new markets and with new customers without leaving revenue at risk. Amid constantly changing geopolitical risks, many businesses worry about entering unknown markets, but Coface provides intelligence and a financial backstop to expand with confidence. For example, an industrial products distributor used Coface to automatically clear new, lower-risk customers for credit, allowing them to take on new business without leaving revenue at risk.
"The companies that come out stronger in this environment are the ones that can see what is coming before it arrives," said Christina Montes de Oca, Chief Executive Officer of Coface North America. "Right now, companies across the U.S. are navigating tariff uncertainty, supply chain disruption and customers they are no longer sure they can count on. Coface gives them the information to act before a problem arises and the coverage to keep moving forward when one does."
As the geopolitical landscape continues to shift, Coface is working hand in hand with its clients to understand their risk profiles and prevent financial loss.
Learn more about how our trade credit insurance and business information solutions can work for your business. Contact us today.