The supply chain shakeup: How brands can redefine resilience
Soon after this article was published, the US and China agreed to temporarily reduce the punishing increase in tariffs announced earlier this year for 90 days as they continue trade negotiations.
The final outcome of these ongoing negotiations remains uncertain. In the meantime, it is critical for brands to stay ahead by staying prepared.
For many businesses, “Made in China” used to mean margins, scale, and predictability.
Now it means exposure. For American brands, a 145% tariff doesn’t just squeeze profits, it dismantles decades of global trade logic. And this time, the fallout will be visible to every consumer on every shelf.
The US-China tariff escalation has redrawn the map for global trade, with consumer-facing goods like mobile phones, TVs, apparel, and homeware now squarely in the crosshairs. Incremental fixes won’t cut it. To stay competitive, brands must rebuild their supply chain and go-to-market strategies from the ground up—and turn disruption into momentum.
How leading companies are responding
Price adjustments might feel like the most immediate lever, but some companies (albeit those with the capital and resources to pivot quickly) are going deeper, reinventing where and how they manufacture, ship, price, and communicate.
Temu, for example, has introduced strategic import surcharges on Chinese goods, while Shein has folded tariff costs directly into product pricing—some SKUs have jumped as much as 377%.
Apple is investing heavily in production shifts; CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the majority of iPhones sold in the US will be made in India by mid-2025. HP is increasing inventory levels to absorb pricing shocks, while Walmart has withdrawn quarterly guidance entirely as it retools supplier terms and cost structures.
Some brands, like Space NK, are choosing to pause operations in the US altogether rather than risk alienating customers with abrupt price hikes.
This operational reset reflects a larger transformation. The old model—“design anywhere, make in China, sell everywhere”—is giving way to regionalized, resilient architectures. HP, for instance, plans to produce 90% of its North American goods outside China by October 2025. Amazon is reevaluating its “Haul” category of ultra-low-cost items, which remains viable in Europe but faces headwinds in the US. Apple’s ability to pivot quickly is the result of years of upstream investment; supply chain intelligence has become a strategic moat. Meanwhile, Temu is actively promoting its US-based inventory to stay agile on pricing and delivery.
These aren’t just cost mitigations. They’re strategic recalibrations built for speed, control, and staying power.
What brands need to act on—fast
Leaders navigating this transformed landscape should prioritize these actions now:
- Make regionalization your baseline. According to McKinsey’s 2024 Global Supply Chain Leader Survey, 60% of leaders are already shifting toward regional production. This isn’t a wait-and-see moment.
- Redesign cost structures for durability. Diversification, dual-sourcing, and higher inventory levels may pinch short-term margins, but they build long-term endurance. Companies that optimized for resilience over efficiency are already outperforming.
- Re-audit your product range. Tariffs will expose weak links in your assortment. Some SKUs will become uncompetitive. Use this as a moment to rationalize, re-bundle, or reposition. Look beyond category competition. You’re now contending with resellers, rentals, refurbished goods, and direct imports that bypass traditional pricing models.
- Anticipate value-switching behavior. In moments of price pressure, consumers don’t buy less, they buy differently. Prepare now for trade-downs, substitutes, and new value cues.
While your supply chain team tackles operational challenges, your marketing and digital teams can create a competitive advantage by:
- Aligning communications with pricing reality. Consumers can handle price increases, but they just won’t tolerate opacity. Be transparent, be fast, and above all, be customer-centric. Reinforce quality, durability, service, or purpose to help reframe the perceived value.
- Using data to defend loyalty. Use purchase frequency, engagement, and churn signals to identify customers most at risk of churning, and intervene before they go.
- Creating context-rich content. Price is easier to digest when it’s wrapped in a narrative. Tell origin stories, showcase behind-the-scenes quality, highlight communities, or sustainability commitments.
Tariffs are blunt instruments. But your response doesn’t have to be. At DEPT®, we help brands build resilience through clarity, loyalty strategy, and first-party intelligence. If you know your customers and what makes you valuable to them, you don’t need to match the lowest price. You need to make sure you’re worth what you ask.
The companies winning today aren’t just adapting supply chains, they’re transforming customer connections. The challenge isn’t technological, it’s strategic. And it starts with seeing tariff disruption not just as a margin threat but as a catalyst for deeper engagement.
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