3 Hidden Ways Tariffs Are Costing Business at the Buying Table

Notes from the Procurement Atmosphere

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I am struggling deeply with the matter of tariffs in so many different ways.

I buy things with other people’s money aka ‘procurement’. I like to say it that way. And I manage what I buy to get value for money. That’s the job!

Now, buying and tariffs are constantly in the same sentence.

Simply put, tariffs are taxes imposed on goods or even services, which are applied at some type of border, and usually represent a percentage of the value of the goods or services in question.

When I used to hear the word tariff, it was probably in reference to a whiff of international politics, a trade war, or some matter in trade business from a business headline. For those of us in procurement, purchasing, logistics, supply management management ….. name the similar function ……. tariffs are an operational nightmare with a dollar sign attached.

Maybe luckily for me that I didn’t think about tariffs much in the past. Geopolitics has been fairly calm until recently.

Some bumps.

Maybe it was an occasional obstacle, something to flag during talks with a particular supplier or something to pass along to finance to handle. But now that I’m clued…