How Interlink Trade Services is using AI and trade expertise to help customers navigate cross-border uncertainty

When Jorge Torres founded Interlink Trade Services in McAllen, Texas, in 2005, he wanted to support his family through work he cared about. Today, the company has approximately 90 employees and more than 250,000 square feet of warehousing space. Looking ahead, the company aims to strengthen its role as a trusted partner by combining expert consulting with personalized service, helping customers navigate complex cross-border decisions with confidence.

Around 80 per cent of Interlink’s business involves Mexico-US trade. It provides import and export customs clearance, cross-docking, storage, distribution and bonded warehousing for industries including automotive, medical devices, telecommunications and metals. Those services connect the decisions made before goods move with the operational work required to move them.

A licensed US customs broker since 1995, Torres holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Texas A&M University and Texas A&M International University respectively. Earlier roles in brokerage and manufacturing, alongside mentors who encouraged his interest in research, helped develop the consulting approach he brings to Interlink.

Building the business through trust

Interlink grows through corporate requests for proposals, existing customers expanding production and Torres’s regional network. Speaking engagements and published articles bring enquiries from companies seeking his expertise, while new businesses moving into the area create operational opportunities. The company does not rely on advertising or a dedicated sales force.

“I don’t have a sales force per se,” he says. Torres prefers growth that allows the company to maintain close customer relationships and provide services beyond clearing individual transactions.

Consulting and operations reinforce each other. A company may first seek Torres’s advice and later ask Interlink to handle brokerage or warehousing. An operational customer may need help with compliance questions behind a shipment. With fewer management layers, he says customers can reach him and his team for decisions on both.

The pressures behind customers’ questions

Torres identifies three pressures facing importers: compliance complexity, financial impact and uncertainty. In his experience, US trade policy changes since January 2025 have made it harder to interpret requirements and understand how tariff provisions interact. Misunderstandings can arise even when companies intend to comply.

Higher tariff costs affect pricing and margins, while uncertainty complicates supplier choices, production locations and expansion. “Businesses want certainty,” Torres says. Questions about the future direction of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement also feature in customers’ long-term planning.

At a government affairs conference organised by the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Torres says members asked lawmakers for at least 30 days’ notice before new tariff provisions take effect. Orders arriving on a Friday for Monday implementation leave a weekend to interpret requirements, update software, notify customers and train staff. He also raised concerns about importer vetting and how broker liability should be defined when government-held information is unavailable to brokers.

Connecting compliance with business decisions

Interlink combines operational services with Torres’s hands-on advisory work. He says some providers focus on transactions and refer wider questions to separate legal or consulting departments. His approach offers technical advice within an existing customer relationship, particularly for smaller businesses with limited resources for specialist support.

That work includes compliance programmes, standard operating procedures, internal audits, training and policy monitoring. It also covers classification, valuation, origin and preferential treatment. A shipment’s departure point alone does not answer every origin question: Torres needs to examine the applicable rules, components and manufacturing processes. For him, a useful answer begins with understanding how a customer’s product is made and where its materials come from. That attention to detail connects technical compliance work to commercial questions about what to produce, where to source it and where to invest.

Understanding the product before advising

Torres typically works under a non-disclosure agreement to review bills of materials, production flows, technical specifications, costs and sourcing details. One current engagement concerns selecting a production location and deciding which products to move. Another involves data-centre equipment a company wants to manufacture in Mexico, with questions about classification, preferential treatment and tariff exposure.

He also advises on sourcing alternatives and plant relocations or expansions. Comparing suppliers and production locations requires understanding their trade and compliance implications. His analysis draws on the practical brokerage, warehousing and logistics experience behind Interlink’s daily operations.

Torres remains optimistic about the region. At a Texas A&M conference, he moderated a discussion with two economists about Texas–Mexico trade and the cultural, family, financial and historical ties supporting it. “Administrations come and go,” he says. He believes long-term regional relationships will continue to drive cooperation.

For Interlink, preparing for that future also means changing how its own teams work.

Technology that creates more time for customers

Interlink’s technology has evolved from a desktop server with a dial-up modem to cloud-based software. Torres considers AI its most significant development. In October 2025, the company began working with a San Francisco technology provider to reduce manual data entry in customs transactions.

Staff previously printed customers’ PDF, Excel or Word attachments and retyped shipment information. The new workflow extracts data from attachments and transfers it into Interlink’s validation software. Torres says it takes minutes, reduces repetitive work and opportunities for typing errors, and frees staff for follow-ups, customer service and consulting.

Adoption was initially slow. Some employees were reluctant to change, while IT and operations managers had other responsibilities. In March 2026, Torres hired a dedicated project leader to coordinate the vendor and local teams. Two employees who embraced the workflows helped colleagues adopt them. He says the brokerage reached its implementation target in August, two months ahead of schedule.

Staff still validate information before transmission to US Customs and Border Protection. “If there’s an error or something goes wrong, you cannot go and blame AI,” Torres says. Planned next phases include accounting, warehousing and digital recordkeeping, supporting a broader move towards paperless operations. The distinction matters to his approach: automation handles repetitive processing, while people review the information and remain accountable for the work. The time saved is intended to strengthen the service customers receive.

Developing the team, sharing the experience

Recent hires include an internal programmer and a manager overseeing community involvement. They work alongside core managers Torres calls the company’s backbone. He remains responsible for strategy and investment while delegating implementation to a younger team. Over the next five to ten years, he wants more freedom for consulting, speaking and writing while Interlink continues growing. Developing that structure is part of his longer-term planning for the company. Experienced managers provide guidance, while newer team members bring the technical skills needed to implement changes.

His aim is to share experience acquired through professional practice and entrepreneurship. The early years meant long hours and missed family occasions. The reward, he says, is being able to provide for his family and team while serving customers and sustaining the business.

Torres’s advice is to begin with commitment to the work and the people it serves. That philosophy links Interlink’s beginnings with its technology investment and his advisory ambitions. “I wake up every morning wanting to come to work,” he says. He wants to keep answering customers’ questions while helping his team carry the business forward.