Retail suppliers face mounting pressure. On one side, costs are shifting again due to tariff uncertainty and broader supply chain pressures. On the other side, retailers are still protecting price perception, watching shopper sensitivity, and pushing hard to defend their own margins.

Most companies view tariffs mainly as a sourcing issue. That is a mistake. Tariffs absolutely affect sourcing, of course. They change landed cost, supplier negotiations, country-of-origin strategies, and buying decisions. But that is only the beginning. Once tariff rules shift, the impact begins to spread across the business. Sales gets pulled into pricing conversations. Compliance gets dragged into documentation and routing issues. Finance has to explain margin erosion. Dedu

Tariffs don’t usually show up in your P&L as a neat little line item labeled “Tariffs.” They show up sideways. They show up as cost creep, then promo pressure, then markdown funding, then returns, then deductions. By the time the dust settles, everyone’s arguing about why the margin missed… and no one can point to a single smoking gun.

Tariffs don’t just tweak your landed cost. They scramble forecasts, force pricing decisions you can’t take back, and turn “we’ll sort it out later” into real margin pain—fast. In this KUAF Ozarks at Large interview, HRG President Boyd Evert breaks down what the latest tariff ruling means on the ground for retail suppliers.