The Hidden Costs Of Tariffs: How Automation And ERP Can Help

Tariffs function as taxes on imports and no matter what big or small they are, they always drive up costs for all businesses. For small and midsize businesses (SMBs) already stretched thin by labor shortages and inflation, every new regulation adds another layer to manage. 

Hidden costs of tariffs 

At the surface, it may seem that the increase in import costs is the biggest hit to a business’s bottom line. But look closer, the true cost of tariffs goes much deeper, like: 

• More paperwork and time – Tariffs come with rules that take time to track and follow, which can mean hiring extra help or pulling focus from other work.
• Supplier headaches – You might have to find new suppliers fast, which can cause delays and make things more expensive or complicated.
• Too much money stuck in inventory – To avoid price spikes or shortages, businesses may buy more than they need. That ties up cash and fills up storage.
• Costly product changes – If you switch to local materials to dodge tariffs, it often means redesigning products, which takes time, resources, and money.
• Harder to sell overseas – Higher prices from tariffs can make your products less appealing in global markets, hurting sales.
• Customer pushback – To offset higher tariffs, you may need to raise prices which risks losing customers or getting priced out of the market.
• Increased vendor costs – Some suppliers may proactively increase fees on their goods in anticipation of tariff changes.  

While these challenges are concerning, they are not unfamiliar to SMBs who have dealt with market disruptions like tariffs for quite some time. Some companies find themselves stuck reacting to the changes, but those who use ERP and automation are proving to be most resilient during these times. The right technology tools take repetitive tasks off your team’s plate, cut down on mistakes, and keep operations moving. When the ground keeps shifting, automation is what keeps a business standing. 

ERP automation in action 

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems provide a connected backbone for business operations, and the addition of automation brings strategy to life. It moves your organization from using technology to support basic functions and toward using it for true operational intelligence.  

ERP solutions provide visibility and connection between business functions that independent systems just can’t deliver. But they don’t just centralize information—they act on it, triggering workflows, surfacing insights in real time, and ensuring that critical information is both accurately documented and dynamically executed.  

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