CEOs globally brace for tariff turmoil with a new game plan

NBC News

2 days ago

Trade tensions are rising, forcing top executives to rewrite the rulebook on how their companies operate, where they invest and what customers buy.
In interviews with CNBC this earnings season, CEOs across industries — from aluminum and aerospace to chocolate, banking, telecoms, and energy — sent a clear message: tariffs are no longer just a political tactic.
As trade rules grow more uncertain and tariffs resurface in policy discussions, business leaders say they're rethinking everything from where factories are located to how products are priced. The old 'just in time' model is giving way to something more cautious: make goods closer to the buyer, ask for exemptions where possible, and stay alert to shifting consumer habits.
This earnings season has been marked by currency swings, inflation, and political uncertainty. And in that environment, tariffs are no longer background noise. They're front and center in how companies are managing risk. For many in the C-suite, the threat isn't just about short-term costs — it's about staying competitive for the long haul.
Build local, think political
'We are concerned about the competitiveness of aluminum compared to other materials,' Hydro Chief Financial Officer Trond Olaf Christophersen told CNBC earlier this week. The company is already passing U.S. tariff costs onto customers. But the deeper worry is how, 'some customers in packaging are already testing steel and plastic alternatives. That's the long game we're watching.'
For Christophersen, it's not just a quarterly issue — it's a warning sign. And Hydro's concern reflects a broader shift: tariffs are speeding up lasting changes in how companies do business.
One of the most common responses is moving production closer to customers. Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm told CNBC the company's North American factory, opened in 2020, was a forward-looking move. 'We've had that 'Made in America' stamp for some time,' he said. The facility now helps protect the company from shifting global politics.
Volvo Cars CEO Håkan Samuelsson is also focused on the U.S. 'We want to fill our factory in South Carolina,' he told CNBC, noting that the company is breaking operations into more independent regions so local teams can respond quickly to new trade policies.
Pharma giant AstraZeneca is also pivoting its footprint, rapidly shifting manufacturing to the U.S. and planning a $50 billion investment in local operations. 'We have lots of reasons to be here,' CEO Pascal Soriot said on the company's earnings call.
For others, localization is as much about sovereignty as it is about logistics. 'We are building data centers for American hyperscalers in Europe, but also for Europeans in the U.S. It's a conscious decoupling,' Skanska CEO Anders Danielsson told CNBC. 'Sovereign tech is a real priority.'
Not every company can shift where things are made. Some are relying on diplomacy. Rolls-Royce CFO Helen McCabe told CNBC the aerospace firm worked with U.K. and U.S. governments to win exemptions for key parts. 'It's not just about tariffs,' she said. 'It's about aligning our industrial footprint to minimize any friction.'
That kind of behind-the-scenes outreach points to a bigger change: trade policy has become a key part of business planning. More companies are factoring in government relations and political risk when making decisions.
Price hikes, policy risk and volatility
Even the most proactive companies can't prepare for everything. Some are eating the higher costs. Others are raising prices — carefully.
Lindt & Sprüngli, the premium chocolate maker, raised prices by 15.8% this year to offset soaring cocoa costs, driven partly by export restrictions in West Africa. 'We saw only a 4.6% decline in volume mix,' CEO Adalbert Lechner told CNBC. But he admitted that U.S. consumers are becoming more price-sensitive.
Givaudan CEO Gilles Andrier shared a similar view. 'Some of our natural ingredients come from Africa and Latin America,' he told CNBC. 'So we're exposed to some tariffs there.' Even companies with local factories can't avoid all trade impacts when raw materials come from abroad.
For companies tied to commodities, the trade duties are just one piece of a bigger puzzle: unpredictability.
'The tricky thing was, it was non-fundamentals-based volatility,' Shell CEO Wael Sawan told CNBC, describing recent swings in the oil market. 'This wasn't a change to physical commodity flows. This was really sort of paper-induced volatility.' That, he said, makes it harder to plan investments or manage price risk.
Even in banking, where the direct impact of tariffs might seem small, the consequences are showing up.
'When you price risk now, you can't just look at credit or liquidity. You have to model policy unpredictability,' UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told CNBC. That includes trade tensions, regulatory surprises, and election-related gridlock.
This quarter makes one thing clear: policy is now a core business risk, not background noise. With elections ahead and industrial policy shifting, companies are localizing, diversifying, lobbying, and repricing faster than ever.
Tariffs aren't just a cost — they're reshaping industries. When customers trade aluminum for steel or chocolate for cheaper treats, the threat isn't just margins. It's market share.
So yes, leaders are building closer to home, pricing smarter, negotiating harder as they scramble to stay ahead of the next curveball.