Brands Briefing: Trump’s new tariffs have every brand scrambling

Overall, Priest said, his industry is “in triage mode.” “[Members] are trying to figure out, ‘How much do we produce right now?’ ‘What will happen with demand?'” he said.

This is just one example of the monumental challenges brands face in trying to figure out how tariffs will impact their respective businesses. Brands that sell footwear, clothing, spices and vitamins and more all face some challenges that are slightly unique to their respective industry.

But, what seemingly every brand CEO has in common right now is that they were all caught off guard by the size and scope of tariffs issued on “Liberation Day.” Tariffs have been the talk of the town for months — as we reported last week, some brands had come to a sort of acceptance about how to deal with tariffs, deciding that the best move was to resist knee-jerk actions. And, so long as they didn’t manufacture in Canada, China or Mexico — countries subject to the first round of tariffs — many executives weren’t too worried about tariffs.

But that changed on Wednesday. As some 180 nations and territories are on Trump’s list, hardly any sector is exempt from the chaos.

It was one thing for brands to rush to adapt during Covid, said Alexa Adams, co-founder of Barrière, a brand that sells vitamin patches people put on their skin. But that was a situation that “occurred outside of our control,” she told Modern Retail. “This has been, in my experience, the largest shock I’ve ever seen to the supply chain,” said Adams, who has worked in the industry for 25 years. “This is something that’s a bizarre, unforced error that we’re all dealing with.”

‘This chaos is so disruptive’

Trump is enacting a 10% tariff on virtually all imports into the U.S., with even higher tariffs affecting dozens of nations, including Switzerland, Bangladesh and Japan. The tariffs also hit everything from cacao beans from Ghana to wool from New Zealand to furniture from the European Union.

Towel brand Weezie manufactures in China, India and Vietnam and was, “to an extent,” prepared for tariffs, co-founder and CEO Lindsey Johnson wrote on LinkedIn. But the company was unprepared for how broad-sweeping the tariffs were overall — especially in the E.U., where most of its production occurs, Johnson told Modern Retail.

“We were hopeful that some of our products manufactured in the E.U. would be spared from increased tariffs,” Johnson said. Now, Weezie must pay a 20% tariff to bring its goods into the U.S. from the E.U.

During Trump’s first administration, some business leaders tried to avoid tariffs by rerouting production to other countries. They also did so during the pandemic, especially when it came to China. Now, it’s likely the countries those brands moved to are affected by tariffs, too.

Shortly before last week’s announcement, Bogg — a bags and accessories brand — visited Sri Lanka and Vietnam to meet with manufacturing partners. Bogg began diversifying production out of China and into these countries when Trump’s 2018 tariffs went into effect. 

Back then, “these two hubs were flying under the radar,” Kim Vaccarella, the founder of Bogg, told Modern Retail. “Nobody was really picking on them.” Now, Bogg is dealing with a 44% tariff for Sri Lanka and a 46% tariff for Vietnam.

Wild Rye, a sports apparel brand, manufactures in China. Over the past two years, it had considered moving production to Cambodia or Vietnam, founder Cassie Abel told Modern Retail. But as those nations are now also dealing with tariffs, “I’m just glad we didn’t rush out of China,” Abel said.

Still, Trump’s new tariffs, stacked on top of existing ones, put Wild Rye’s tariffs at more than 60%. That’s not counting an additional 50% tariff on China that Trump is now threatening.

“This chaos is so disruptive,” Abel said. “Operating any size business in this uncertain economic landscape is really scary.”

Taking action amid the tariffs

Brands are now trying to figure out their best course of action in this turbulent environment. For some, that could be raising prices or adjusting their production schedules. Others aren’t sure if they should hold steady in case policies change again. Either way, for many brands, the tariffs are an exhausting game of whiplash and worry.

Barrière, the vitamin brand, chose to make its products in the U.K., rather than in the U.S., because the supplements industry is more strongly regulated in the U.K. Now, though, it’s being stuck with a 10% tariff on imports from the U.K. The extra cost, co-founder Adams pointed out, is” just a tax on the end consumer,” she said. “The product isn’t better [with a tariff].”

Barrière considered raising prices to increase cash flow. However, it’s keeping prices steady for at least a year until it has more information on how long the tariffs will last. “Before we can make a decision, we need to have consistency,” Adams said. “Will this be forever? Will this be temporary?”

Abel, the founder of Wild Rye, calculated that Wild Rye would need to raise prices by about 40% to deal with tariffs while still maintaining healthy margins. “We’re pulling all the levers we possibly can,” Abel said. “For spring 2026, there are a lot of products we’re looking at cutting where we just can’t justify the margins.”

Weezie, the towel brand, is getting some “ducks in a row” as it waits for further guidance, Johnson said. For instance, it fast-tracked some purchase orders to ship before the new tariffs took effect. It’s also negotiating with suppliers and, where possible, counter-sourcing products from countries with lower- proposed tariffs.

Spice brand Burlap & Barrel is dealing with multiple tariffs, as it imports everything from cinnamon to garlic from small farms in some 30 countries. Assuming all of the reciprocal tariffs go through, “we’ll see those costs start to go up,” Ethan Frisch, co-founder and co-CEO, told Modern Retail. However, Burlap & Barrel does not plan to push price increases onto its partner farmers or its customers.

Instead, the brand held a “tariff sale” in the last week to clear out inventory and increase cash flow. The sale “was one of our biggest days ever in nine years,” Frisch said. The brand also plans to wait on rolling out new items — like small quantities of really rare spices — to conserve resources. “We want to make sure we’re in a really good place to have a strong holiday period where people may be cooking more [and need spices],” said Ori Zohar, the other founder.

Meanwhile, Bogg, the bag brand, is still moving forward with production in Vietnam and Sri Lanka. “We worked so hard to get these relationships in place and want to keep them going, just in case,” Vaccarella said. She added that, while she’s set up a meeting with a domestic partner, all of Bogg’s material still comes from China. “We don’t have sources here in the U.S. for the material,” she said.

Larger economic questions

On their own, tariffs are tricky enough, brands told Modern Retail. But brands also have to deal with a plummeting stock market that could further wreck consumer confidence.

Economists are warning of a recession, and even brands who say they are technically “in the clear” from the newest batch of tariffs are feeling uneasy about their future.

Made In, a cookware brand, manufactures about one-third of its products in the U.S. and two-thirds of its products in Europe. Made In has been dealing with Trump’s 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel exports since March 12. Those “supersede” the new 20% tariff Trump slapped on the E.U., co-founder Jake Kalick told Modern Retail. But, he said, the brand is still concerned about the tariffs, particularly “the effect on consumer confidence and consumer spending.”

Made In is taking action to better position itself for the future. It’s planning to increase prices and open a distribution center in the U.K. to service nearby countries. It’s also enacting a hiring freeze and putting off investments in technology. Made In has had to figure everything out “as soon as possible,” co-founder Chip Malt previously told Modern Retail. “Every day we don’t, we’re just bleeding a lot of money that we weren’t two days ago,” he added.

Ultimately, with stocks careening and shoppers watching their dollars, Burlap & Barrel’s Frisch said the challenge goes beyond tariffs. “The tariffs at that point almost feel like adding insult to injury,” he said. “What’s our business going to do if the economy is collapsing and our products suddenly get a lot more expensive? That’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves for a couple weeks at this point.” –Julia Waldow, with contributing reporting from Anna Hensel and Gabriela Barkho

Tariff talk at the Modern Retail Market Summit

Fortuitously, Modern Retail held the first day of its Marketing Summit on Monday, where we gathered marketers from top brands like Claire’s, Hanna Andersson, Bark and more to talk about how they are handling the big challenges they are facing in their business.

Unsurprisingly, tariffs were the big topic of discussion. During the “challenge board” session, conducted under Chatham House rules, attendees discussed how they were approaching marketing around tariffs, which remains a very fluid situation. Some attendees said they had found success in marketing “tariffs sales,” which drove not only sales, but press hits. Another marketer, however, mentioned that one of their competitors ran a tariff-related sale, and the competitor got dragged in social media comments by customers who thought it was a tone-deaf move at a time when people don’t have as much discretionary income.

People were also divided on how exactly to account for potential tariff-related costs. One marketer said their brand would be testing breaking out “tariffs” costs into a separate line item — similar to how they do with taxes — so they could keep the Shopify MSRP the same. Another marketer said that tariffs would lead them to rethink how they approach collaborations or co-branded products, and which ones would still be feasible.

Ultimately, the takeaway is that things are changing fast — and no one knows how to adapt accordingly. –Anna Hensel

Buy now, pay later by the numbers

Senior reporter Melissa Daniels has a check-in coming later this week on the state of buy-now, pay-later, in light of economic volatility and Klarna’s (now delayed) upcoming IPO. Here’s some key stats about just how much shoppers are embracing the nascent payment method:

• 22.6%: How much combined gross payments from 29 different BNPL lenders rose year-over-year from Jan. 1, 2025 through March 29, 2025, according to Earnest Analytics
• $105 billion: The GMV from Klarna in 2024
• 21.2%: The amount of shoppers with a credit record who have made at least one purchase with a BNPL loan, as of 2022, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau –Melissa Daniels

What we’re reading

• Ulta Beauty is pausing expansion of its Target shop-in-shops, to learn what works best at its existing locations. 
• Levi’s beat estimates during its fourth-quarter earnings, but execs said during its earnings call on Monday that it was too soon to forecast the impact of tariffs. 
• Meanwhile, RH’s CEO had a very candid response during the company’s earnings call last week as its stock dropped in retail time in correlation with President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement. 

What we’ve covered

• How refillable deodorant startup Wild scored a sale to Unilever. 
• Claire’s vp of marketing discussed how the retailer markets to Gen Alpha. 
• How C4 is positioning itself as an ‘athlete’s drink’ to stand out in the crowded energy drink market.