Global trade barriers are rising, and that means opportunity for new trade tech startups.

From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Novosafo.

First, there was Brexit, which disrupted trade in Europe.

Now tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are adding new barriers around the world.

All of this impacts how goods move across the globe.

It's especially painful for smaller companies.

And as the BBC's Leanna-Burn reports, there's an increase in trade tech startups to help deal with the obstacles.

Musician Matthew Grisbert ran a thriving violin business in the southwest of England until Brexit.

I was both importing and exporting from the UK.

I was doing a lot of buying in France and also in the Czech Republic.

The difficulties in the red tape and bureaucracy involved with importing made it very difficult.

It changed his business to the point where he had to scale down. I became an expert in import export rather than an expert in violins.

Suddenly, the business which had been quite fulfilling and reasonably successful and lucrative

just got bogged down in bureaucracy and paperwork.

People never really think about customs until it goes wrong.

But these days, stories like Matthews are common

for small firms struggling with cross-border red tape, and that kind of pain has created space for

new technology. It used to be such a boring subject, and never before has it now become

so interesting and dynamic due to the onset of Trump tariffs.

That's Kelvin Tan, co-founder of G.T.R. Ventures in Singapore. He says global trade is bigger and

faster than ever. The World Economic Forum says cross-border trade has grown by a quarter in the

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