How We’re Surviving The Tariff Roller-Coaster

Recent years have thrown everything at us: pandemics, soaring container costs, war, AI disruption, tariffs… it makes you wonder, what’s next!?

If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that we can’t control the relentless changes in macroeconomic conditions. But we can control how we react to them. The recent tariff swings have been a perfect reminder of that.

For import businesses, especially those operating in highly competitive, low-margin industries, this is one of the hardest times to make decisions. Do you raise prices and risk losing customers? Or hold steady and wait to see what competitors do? Both paths carry risks, and neither is a clear win.

Our approach has been to avoid the most vulnerable categories in the first place. We tend to stay away from importing products with razor-thin margins, and that strategy is serving us well now. For the time being, we’re choosing to stay the course and let the dust settle before making any major adjustments.

That doesn’t mean we won’t feel the pinch with short-term profits. But for us, the greater danger lies in constantly shifting prices with every policy change. That kind of volatility can confuse customers, erode trust, and create longer-term damage than a temporary margin squeeze.

I’m often amazed at how some business owners dismiss the need to pay attention to macroeconomic conditions but, in some ways, they’re right. You don’t want to change strategy with every gust of wind but ignoring the bigger picture is dangerous. Tariffs, currency shifts, and trade flows directly shape customer behavior, often in subtle but very significant ways. Being aware of what’s going on and understanding your position is critical to both survival and growth. And don’t forget: these same conditions are impacting your competitors, too. Success often comes down to who is better positioned to act. Bottom line, we’re exercising patience, but we’ll act decisively and quickly when we feel the time comes to act.

For consumer-facing brands, there is another path: selling globally. With our own brands, we’re pursuing opportunities in markets not impacted by U.S. tariffs, building exclusive relationships with country or regional distributors who can grow the business while reducing our exposure to trade uncertainty. But, when going this road, you invite a more complex business, operating in different time-zones and with language and cultural differences. You need to ensure you’re up to the challenge.

In the end, our survival strategy comes down to patience, discipline, and focus. By keeping attention on what we can control—whether that’s pricing discipline at home or new opportunities abroad. We’re trying to ride out the tariff roller-coaster without losing sight of the bigger picture.

We’d like to learn what you’re doing to meet current macroeconomic challenges!