Square PESTEL AnalysisPESTEL is a strategic analytical tool. The acronym stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors. Square PESTEL analysis refers to the analysis of potential impact of these external factors on the performance of the financial services and digital payments company.   Political Factors in Square PESTEL Analysis There are many political factors that can affect the bottom line for Square directly or indirectly. These include government stability, the level of bureaucracy, corruption, freedom of press and others. Moreover, activities of trade unions, government trade controls and tax policies, as well as, home market lobbying activities also belong to the list of political factors that can affect the business.   Custom tariffs Square works with manufacturers from China to develop its hardware products. In September 2018, the United States imposed tariffs on certain imports from China, including on some Square hardware devices manufactured in China. The tariffs on these products were initially set at 10%, but were increased to 25% in May 2019. On September 1, 2019, the United States imposed new tariffs at 15% on additional imports from China, including Square’s remaining hardware products manufactured there, but rolled back these new tariffs to 7.5% effective February 14, 2020. The tariffs negatively affect the gross margin on the impacted products, which only partially has been offset by adjustments to the prices of some of the affected products.   Bureaucracy Bureaucracy is one of the main political factors for Square. International market expansion for the financial services and digital payments company requires registering the business with local authorities in due manners. Business registration processes, as well as, the practice of conducting business can be highly bureaucratic, especially in developing countries and such a situation can have adverse effects on Square operations in respective markets. Particularly, bureaucracy can slow down…