🎙️ Global trade data used to be buried in bureaucratic sludge until Dave Applegate turned it into ImportYeti, a tool for transparency (if you’re a shopper) and competitive advantage (if you’re building a competitor). It’s a really great tool just as a piece of UX on top of customs data. And that Dave and his team have built a business on top of it for power users—basically building the Bloomberg terminal for international shipping—is so clever.
Dave joins TOOL OR DIE to explain how he’s made international shipping records searchable, visual, and dead simple to use for anyone, from journalists to supply chain strategists.
This episode isn’t just about customs data, though: it’s about what that data reveals. From revealing where most leather jackets are actually made (hint: not in New York or even Texas) to exposing how many companies quietly source goods from countries with poor labor practices, Dave’s perspective born from years soaking in manifests and supply chain problems reframed many of our presumptions about the last few years of impact from pandemics and tariffs.
Dave also walks us through the real post-COVID supply chain shifts (and what didn’t happen), the geopolitics of nearshoring and transshipping, and how companies are navigating tariffs, IP theft, and the long tail of ESG.
And most importantly: why adult diaper imports are more geopolitically significant than you think.
Timestamps
00:00 – What is Import Yeti? Open customs data, visualized and searchable
02:45 – From making mugs to mapping trade flows: the origin of the platform
04:30 – The viral value of searching company imports (and the serious business behind it)
06:45 – Why companies are finally moving away from China—slowly
09:10 – Ecosystems drive manufacturing hubs: from Silicon Valley to Pakistan leather
11:45 – Should the U.S. build a new Shenzhen—or many specialty zones?
13:00 – Why no one changed their supply chains after COVID
14:30 – China, ESG, and the illusion of ethical sourcing
17:00 – What happens when Vietnam has its own China moment?
18:30 – Reverse engineering global supply: Vietnam ≠ Mexico ≠ Pakistan
21:00 – Will rising economies adopt IP law—or repeat China’s playbook?
23:00 – Who pays for deeper insights? How Import Yeti’s model works
25:00 – Custom trade data as a tool for industrial planning and due diligence
27:00 – Tariff whiplash: the real impact of trade policy volatility
30:00 – The “de minimis” loophole and why it may finally be closing
32:00 – What data doesn’t show: raw materials, commodities, and the limits of visibility
34:00 – Transshipping and tariff dodging: the hidden reality of many “non-China” imports
36:00 – Sex objects, adult diapers, and the unexpected scale of niche imports
37:30 – Why America still lacks manufacturing for strategic essentials like PPE
Key Topics
Making government trade data accessible—and why it matters
Global supply chain realignments post-COVID, post-ESG, post-China
Tariffs, transshipping, and the search for non-China manufacturing
Data as leverage: sourcing, competition, and compliance
The blind spots of global trade transparency
What America didn’t build after COVID—and why it might matter next time
🔧 Learn more: ImportYeti.com | U.S. Customs Data Explained | UFLPA & Forced Labor Info
Sponsor
This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS, the adaptive ERP.
DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great.
DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility
TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time.
Follow them at:
LinkedIn: joeljohnson | alexroy
X: @joeljohnson | @alexroy144
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