As Trump’s trade war unfolds, businesses must continuously adapt to the changing landscape.
If your business sells physical products, having a dependable supply chain is table stakes. But in today’s trade war, it can be a competitive advantage.
That’s according to Kerim Kfuri, CEO of packaging and supply chain solutions company The Atlas Network. The Trump administration’s trade war is prompting businesses to reevaluate manufacturing processes, threatening a disruption to supply chains. On July 7, Trump extended his reciprocal tariff plan to August 1. He has since announced a list of countries that will be subject to tariffs of at least 25 percent, including Japan and South Korea, and up to 50 percent for Brazil. While those countries attempt to finalize trade deals prior to the deadline, businesses have a few more weeks to assess how they may be impacted.
Atlas’s Kfuri has helped nearly 2,000 suppliers build supply chains that can face uncontrollable factors. He’s the author of Supply Chain Ups and Downs, published in 2024, and the co-host of The Supply and Demand Show, a podcast and YouTube channel featuring weekly leaders discussing supply chain management.
Below are Kfuri’s tips for managing tariffs, each stemming from his belief:
Businesses risk losing customers if their prices soar following the introduction of tariffs, which is why Kfuri advises spreading the financial weight across the supply chain. He recommends negotiating tariff absorption between the supplier, the brand, intermediaries, and end consumers, with the goal of minimizing the cost impact on the consumer.
“When there’s no road map, you have to make one,” Kfuri says. “The trials and tribulations are the backbone of success in many ways.”
Scrambling to pay tariffs up front, all at once, doesn’t have to be the answer. Take a step back to analyze alternate solutions that may grant you more time to write a game plan. Kfuri suggests several methods to postpone payments:
“You have to be negative with a positive intention,” says Kfuri. “You have to say, ‘OK, if my supply chain was cut off tomorrow for the next year, will we be OK?’ And that ends up allowing you to have that sort of risk mitigation strategy around the global supply chain.”
One question Kfuri advises business owners to ask is whether they can reduce production cost by using different materials or importing parts from somewhere else. On the flip side, how can you highlight hidden benefits of your product that you haven’t explicitly emphasized to the consumer?
“In this way, you might be able to increase the price point, but not necessarily reduce the value for consumers,” Kfuri says, recalling a client who emerged from the pandemic with a product that was cheaper to make and therefore more profitable. “Because of that disruption, they ended up getting a product that was superior. They would have never thought in those ways if they didn’t have that disruption that had them go back to the drawing board.”
If significant challenges remain after testing these suggestions, considering alternative supply chains may be the move your business needs. In most cases, however, Kfuri emphasizes the strength of adapting to the current landscape.
“As small to mid-size businesses, their superpower is their ability to be flexible and the ability to pivot,” he says. “That is how small businesses can seize market share. They can look at these holes in the market or these opportunities in the face of disruption and be able to use those scenarios to their advantage.”