Good morning. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on Monday, and reciprocal tariffs also remain a possibility. That comes after Trump announced levies on Mexico and Canada last week. However, on Feb. 3, he put them on hold for 30 days, while allowing tariffs on China to take effect, later suspending taxes on its low-cost imports.
From small businesses to large corporations, leaders are left to navigate how tariffs would affect business. These discussions are happening at the C-suite level across sectors, Sameer Anand, EY-Parthenon Americas supply chain leader, said during an EY webinar on tariffs last week.
One thing that surprised Anand: “There are a number of companies that did not have a plan going into this,” he said. “Companies should be starting to come up with short-term and medium-term plans at least, and then have triggers to pull for the long-term perspective.”
But he’s also talked to companies that are more prepared after having evaluated several short-term solutions. For example, more firms are determining what they can do to reduce the dutiable value of goods, he said, and then analyzing commercial and supply chain aspects.
“It is very clear that a lot of companies are getting their draft communications ready to send messages about passing on the commercial pricing increases to customers,” Anand said.
This is all part of taking a longer view on cost increases, which entails well-prepared companies asking: “How can I share in some of this pain with my strategic partners?” he said. To stem passing on the entire cost increase to the consumer base, these companies seek to come into some agreement with suppliers to absorb some of the cost, he said.
Some finance chiefs have communicated potential price increases. For example, Anthony DiSilvestro, CFO at Mattel, Inc. said on the company’s Q4 earnings call on February 4 that his teams have been planning for a range of scenarios to mitigate the impact of tariffs. “We don’t want to necessarily disclose our playbook,” he said. But actions include leveraging the strength of its global supply chain. “And they also include potential price increases,” DiSilvestro said.
Another finding from Anand’s conversation with C-suite leaders: Some companies are looking across supply chains for opportunities to increase production capacity in the U.S. And it’s a comprehensive evaluation, going beyond just the immediate supplier, he said. They’re trying to understand “what are the inputs that go in ingredient A, and where are they coming from?” he explained. For example, they have to think about whether the input for a product came from China.
Mature and progressive companies are also thinking about the levers available to deal with tariffs and political volatility that’s simultaneously occurring, Anand said. There’s also a lot of long-term considerations that are ongoing, like advancing automation and AI strategies, he said.
Navigating the trade war will certainly become a top priority.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Move
Southwest Airlines (No. 159), announced on Monday that Tom Doxey will become EVP and CFO, effective March 10. Doxey most recently served as president of Breeze Airways. Before that, he held several leadership roles at United Airlines, including SVP of technical operations and CFO of operations. Doxey’s aviation career began in financial planning and fleet management roles at Allegiant Air and US Airways.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves:
Joshua Bleharski was appointed CFO of IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDYA), an oncology company. Before IDEAYA, Bleharski most recently served as a managing director and global co-head of Biopharma with J.P. Morgan’s Healthcare Investment Banking group. He spent nearly 17 years at the company.
Donald Munoz was appointed CFO of Aurion Biotech, Inc. (Aurion). Munoz has over 30 years of health care experience as a CFO and an investment banker. Prior to joining Aurion, Munoz spent more than nine years as CFO of NuCana plc, a biotechnology company. Before NuCana, he was the CFO of NOXXON Pharma N.V. Previously, Munoz spent 20 years as a health care investment banker.
Big Deal
Research by S&P Global Market Intelligence finds that 11 deals in the U.S. banking sector, worth a combined $678.4 million, were announced last month, compared to 12 bank deals for a combined $566.7 million in January 2024.
On Jan. 13, Kalispell, Montana-based Glacier Bancorp Inc. announced the acquisition of Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Bank of Idaho Holding Co. for $245.4 million. “The transaction had a deal value-to-tangible common equity ratio of 190.4%,” according to the report. “The purchase marks the 16th-largest and the third-most expensive U.S. bank M&A deal since the beginning of 2024.”
Going deeper
“Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential” is a report by McKinsey that explores companies’ technology and business readiness for AI adoption. Almost all companies invest in AI, but just 1% believe they are at maturity. The research finds the biggest barrier to scaling is not employees—who are ready—but leaders, who are not steering fast enough, according to the report.
Overheard
“In 2025 we will get AI that’s smarter and capable of reliably solving complex, real-world problems at scale. Enterprises will gain the confidence to deploy these systems widely, unlocking immense value. With this, we will enter the third stage of the modern AI revolution in the enterprise.”
—Yoav Shoham, a serial entrepreneur, computer scientist, and professor emeritus at Stanford University, writes in the Fortune opinion piece titled, “AI ‘prompt and pray’ hasn’t cut it in the enterprise, but we’ve found the missing puzzle piece. Mass deployment is next.”
