As global trade policy becomes increasingly unpredictable, tariffs have reemerged as a volatile and disruptive factor in supply chain and cost management. For CFOs, tariff unpredictability poses a real challenge: how to maintain profitability and competitiveness when cost structures can shift with a single headline or Presidential executive order.
This article is part of a series examining the key challenges and best practices that today’s CFOs face as they navigate tariff uncertainty in 2025. Download the full guide, “The CFO’s Guide to Tariff Uncertainty in 2025”, here.
Tariffs often strike quickly, without warning, and disproportionately impact specific sectors, raw materials, or countries of origin. For example, a tariff might suddenly increase the landed cost of a key input by 10% or more. If pricing remains unchanged, that increase flows directly to the bottom line. For companies operating on thin margins, even a small swing in input cost can be the difference between profit and loss. However, passing-on costs to customers isn’t always a viable option. Market dynamics, customer loyalty, and competitive pricing pressures can all constrain a company’s ability to raise prices. In some industries, such as consumer goods, electronics, or automotive, price sensitivity is acute, and competitors might absorb the cost to maintain market share.
This is where an agile pricing strategy becomes essential. Agile pricing is not just about speed; it’s about adaptability. It refers to the ability to adjust pricing in real time, or near real time, based on changes in input costs, supply chain conditions, competitor behavior, and customer demand. It combines financial modeling, data analytics, and decision-making agility to ensure that the company can respond to shocks without overreacting.
Three reasons why agile pricing should be on every CFO’s radar:
- Tariffs Can Be Short-Term or Long-Term and You Need to Prepare for Both
Tariffs may be political tools, temporary bargaining chips, or long-term structural changes to trade policy. Whether tariffs last six months or six years, companies need to avoid pricing models that assume permanence or transience without a clear rationale. An agile approach allows for provisional pricing changes that can be scaled back if tariffs are lifted or deepened if they persist.
- Not All Costs Can Be Passed Through
The ability to raise prices is market-dependent. For commodity products or industries with high substitution risk, attempting to push cost increases to the customer could result in lost business. Agile pricing models allow you to identify when price increases are feasible, and when alternative margin-protection strategies (e.g., product reformulation, supplier renegotiation, or SKU optimization) are more appropriate.
- Your Competitors Are Watching and Responding
In some industries, price transparency is high. Customers can easily compare prices across vendors. If you raise prices in response to tariffs and competitors don’t, you risk losing volume. An agile strategy allows you to monitor market signals and adjust quickly if your position becomes uncompetitive.
Transparent communication, internally and externally, is also critical. Sales teams need to have talking points and rationale to explain price changes to customers. Internally, teams need to understand that pricing is now a strategic lever, not just a sales tool. Customers are more likely to accept price increases if they’re communicated early, transparently, and framed within the context of a larger economic reality (e.g., supply chain disruptions, rising tariffs, input shortages). CFOs should work with marketing and sales to support that messaging.
Ultimately, pricing agility is about building resilience. In a world where economic policy can change overnight, static pricing strategies put your margins at risk. CFOs must lead the effort to embed flexible, data-informed, and market-aware pricing capabilities across their organizations.
If you’d like to learn how Schneider Downs’ CFO Services team can assist in navigating tariff-related uncertainties, please contact us.
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