Episode 3: Building a Trade Compliance Career and Proving Its Value at Bayer
Vice President, International Trade Compliance - Bayer
Steve Johnsen is an international trade compliance executive with extensive experience in compliance, export controls, economic sanctions, and risk management. He currently serves as Vice President of International Trade Compliance at Bayer and also works as a consultant at Amalie. With a background spanning pharmaceutical, chemical, medical device, agricultural, and petroleum industries, Steve brings a multidisciplinary perspective to global trade challenges. His professional interests include regulatory strategy, career development, compliance advocacy, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in international trade.
Steve Johnsen, Vice President of International Trade Compliance at Bayer, joined the company as a chemist in 1999 to classify products and later helped create its first trade compliance organization. He shares what helped him grow at each career stage, how he shows the function's value to the CFO, where Bayer is testing AI in classification, why tariff language must be read as law, and why his children told friends he was a spy.
5 Key Findings
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Early careers grow through breadth
Steve's advice to new professionals is to take projects beyond the job description, earn an external credential such as the US Licensed Customs Broker exam, and join trade associations where peers compare practices and work on shared issues.
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External legal spend is an easy first metric
Before Bayer had a compliance function, every customs or export question went to outside counsel. Steve showed that in-house staff more than paid for themselves by cutting that legal bill.
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Licenses protect market access
When a country adds a licensing requirement, the choice is to resource the work or leave the market. Framing it that way gets quick approval for headcount at Bayer, without layers of bureaucracy.
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Read the tariff from the heading down
The General Rules of Interpretation and section and chapter notes are legally binding. A classifier must start at the heading and work down, never jump to an eight- or ten-digit line that seems to fit.
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Ask for technical data, not marketing copy
Bayer's classification requests require chemical composition and technical details as mandatory fields. For bought-in items, the manufacturer is the best source. Bayer staffs classification with scientists, since it is easier to teach a scientist tariffs than a logistics person science.
Advice to the Professional
From Steve Johnsen
In the middle of your career, shift attention inside the company. Look for time with senior managers, brief them on trade topics and show how your work reduces risk or saves money. Steve used those conversations to argue for Bayer’s first dedicated trade compliance program.
Experiment with AI now, starting with classification, origin and free trade agreement work. Keep a person validating results, because relying on AI is no defense if a systemic error reaches thousands of entries. Watch what customs authorities consider reasonable care, and expect AI costs to change.
Conclusion
Steve built his career by adding visible value to Bayer, from duty savings to keeping markets open. His approach combines strict reading of the tariff with curiosity about new tools and steady investment in people.