Executives treat tariffs as permanent

Many executives now budget for tariffs as a standing cost, not a short-term disruption, and that shift is changing sourcing and pricing plans. (businessinsider.com) Business Insider reported on April 13 that a PwC survey found 86% of U.S. executives expect tariffs to remain elevated for years, regardless of who is in the White House. PwC’s broader 2026 Global Chief Executive Officer Survey, released January 19, found 29% of chief executives expect tariffs to reduce net profit margins over the next 12 months. (businessinsider.com) (pwc.com) PwC surveyed 4,454 chief executives in 95 countries and territories between September 30 and November 10, 2025. In that survey, only 30% said they were very or extremely confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022. (pwc.com 1) (pwc.com 2) That planning shift comes after a year in which tariff policy changed form but did not disappear. On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize tariffs, and the Trump administration responded with a 10% tariff under Section 122 that took effect February 24. (taxfoundation.org) (sidley.com) Tax Foundation estimates the tariffs now in effect in 2026 will raise taxes by about $600 per U.S. household, even after the court ruling reduced the average applied tariff rate from 13.8% to 6.7% before the temporary Section 122 tariff pushed it back to 10.3%. (taxfoundation.org) Companies are already moving those costs through their operations. KPMG said on March 30 that 55% of executives planned to raise prices by as much as 15% within six months, and 34% said they were passing on more than half of tariff costs, up from 13% in May 2025. (kpmg.com) KPMG also found companies are shifting supply chains from planning to execution, including more reshoring and more hiring for tariff-related work. One-third of companies reported hiring for specialized roles that could handle tariff complexity, up from 22% in September, while 44% invested in automated systems that added little or no headcount. (kpmg.com) That is why tariff strategy is moving beyond procurement teams and into sales, contracts, and customer communications. Distribution Strategy wrote in January that distributors are embedding tariff assumptions into sourcing, pricing, contracting, and customer communication rather than treating duties as exceptional events. (distributionstrategy.com) The same pattern is showing up in brand and media planning. PMG, a marketing firm, said after the February ruling that advertisers still had to plan for tariff-driven supply chain and pricing pressure, while public relations publication PRNEWS wrote in 2025 that tariffs had become a communications issue as well as a cost issue. (pmg.com) (prnewsonline.com) The immediate question is no longer whether tariffs vanish with one court ruling or one election result. For many executives in April 2026, the working assumption is simpler: build the business as if import taxes will still be there. (businessinsider.com) (taxfoundation.org)