Gartner: Companies Need to Strategize to Respond Effectively to New Tariffs

In response to a new environment of massively increased import tariffs, U.S. businesses must adopt strategies that go beyond either absorbing new costs or passing them on to customers, according to analyst firm Gartner, Inc.

Chief supply chain officers should be projecting ahead to potential counter-measures, escalations and de-escalations as part of their current scenario planning activities, according to a report released January 28, Supply Chain Disruption: Key Strategies for CSCOs to Respond. But the risks of acting too early to proposed tariffs and anticipated countermeasures by trading partners are as acute as acting too late, the analysts said.

“CSCOs who anticipate that current tariff volatility will persist for years, rather than months, should also recognize that…