As you prepare for upcoming trade shows, interviews, or other events where you’ll engage customers and field questions – tariff talk looms.
It will surely be a hot topic of conversation in the exhibition halls – especially at LogiMAT and ProMat, considering the global nature of the logistics and supply chain industry.
We’ve already seen it on the list of questions trade journalists provided before the show as we worked with them on pre-show coverage for Portavoce clients.
Reporters will be asking for leaders to comment on how the tariffs will impact the supply chain and logistics industry. Still, I know they are holding the toughest question for the in-person show interviews – How will the tariffs impact YOUR business?
Getting your media messaging and media Q&A – what I call your “offense” and your “defense” – is always important, but with the volatility and wide-sweeping impact on global markets, being prepared for this question is crucial.
The Tariff Landscape (All of this is subject to change momentarily!)
A lot of tariff ping-ponging has happened since the beginning of the year. Have you noticed?
It’s affecting many different industries, including the logistics and supply chain industries.
Honestly, I’m not even going to list them because I’m not exaggerating that they changed yesterday, and by the time I proofread this blog and publish it, the list would be inaccurate.
The facts that won’t change are that tariffs will impact companies in the logistics and supply chain industry – because there are so many ways for tariffs to muck things up. They will:
- Increase costs across the board – from the cost of goods, transportation, and worse, the end-price to buyers that will weaken demand, which hits the supply chain sector.
- Disruptions and literal “breaks” in the supply chain as countries turn exports and imports on and off like a faucet as the trade war wages on.
- Lots and lots and lots of delays (De ja vu 2020)
- And can we just add stress to the list here?
The only good news is that the pandemic made supply chain organizations more resilient and dynamic. Any logistics team who lived through that is going to get through this. I believe in you!
But since I’m a communications and public relations expert, I’ll stay in my lane. I’m here to help you decide….Should You Answer the Tariff Question?
Before jumping into a detailed response about the impact of recent tariffs, ask yourself, “Is this question inbounds or out of bounds?”
This is the litmus test public relations and communications leaders always ask as they prepare messaging – you can check yourself before you wreck yourself by asking the same.
There are some signposts that indicate a question may be out-of-bounds:
- Crystal Ball RequiredU. S. tariffs remain new and are changing weekly, if not daily. At this early stage, accurately predicting their impact on your business requires magical powers we simply don’t have. In media training, there is a bucket we call “predictions, speculation and forecasts,” and it’s always out of bounds. Tariffs fall into that bucket.It will take time to fully understand the implications of tariffs, and providing premature statements could lead to expectations you might regret. Worse, once you make a statement in an interview and it’s published, it forever sets a point of comparison people can hold you accountable to.
- Forward-Looking StatementsDiscussing how tariffs will affect your business is a forward-looking statement for public companies. And making those requires procedural steps that can’t be made on the trade show floor.Even for private companies, and I’ve worked with many, speculating on the future can be problematic and come back to haunt you for the reasons I mentioned in the first point.
- Financial Information Should Be Communicated StrategicallyAny discussion of how regulations or political changes might impact your business falls into the category of financial information. Financial information about your business should be communicated in a controlled manner and from the appropriate leader, with a well-timed approach whether you work for a public or private company.
What to Say When You’re Asked to Talk Tariffs
It’s true. No question can truly go unanswered. For tariff talk, be prepared to “address” the question so you don’t answer it. And let’s just remember it’s true that “No comment” is not a part of the interview toolbox, and neither is “off the record.” Banish these phrases from your vernacular.
Now it’s time to prepare
- Write Down the Words
Work with your communications advisor to determine the exact words to use when addressing tariff questions. If you don’t have an advisor, you can do it yourself. When you write them down and read them out loud it quickly becomes clear what works well and what doesn’t. Ensure the language you use is authentic to your style. Variations on the response might be:
“It’s too early to know, but we have a watchful eye on the topic and have been doing some customer listening on the topic to understand if our customers are concerned.”
Translation – Not making predictions + we aren’t clueless + we’re paying attention.
“We manufacture components of our system in many different locations to mitigate exactly this kind of risk to our pricing model.”
Translation – We know what we’re doing + Our business is resilient + We’ve got this!
- Practice Blocking and Bridging
Practice the essential media interview techniques we call “Blocking & Bridging”. Block the question by addressing the question and bridge back to your messaging agenda. This skill requires practice but is essential to maintain control of an interview or a conversation with anyone else at a show. - Develop Your Offense (Proactive Messaging) and Your Defense (Q&A to Tough Questions).
Prepare three positive points about your company to share – customer wins, business outcomes and optimistic responses about your company’s performance. Having a clear messaging agenda gives you somewhere productive to bridge to.
The media Q&A is not the same as an FAQ. Media Q&A is an internal document. FAQ is customer-facing. The media Q&A anticipates and addresses tough and controversial questions so you have the statements prepared and can quickly bridge to the positive stuff.
There are many common controversial questions in addition to this season’s hot ones about tariffs. Lawsuits, layoffs, more crystal ball questions about future products and business performance – the list goes on but don’t go on for more than one or two pages.
The Portavoce team is in the thick of this now as we prepare our clients to do in-person media interviews at LogiMAT and ProMAT. Not going to lie – it’s a lot of work! It requires a lot of collaborators from marketing, sales, leadership, product development, legal, communications, etc.
But by the end, you have a beautiful body of work that includes that offense and defense, and you are set up for success for many months to come (or until there is a new tariff announced).
- Align Your Team…the WHOLE TEAM
Make sure communications, marketing and sales teams are delivering the answers to tariff questions. Provide the offense and the defense to everyone representing you at the show so you can present a unified company position.
If you’re attending ProMat 2025, we’d love to meet with you!
Message us on our LinkedIn page or email portavoce@portavocepr.com to schedule a meet-up.
Read other blogs about how to engage the media at trade shows:
5 Most Common Interview Questions You’ll Get at a Trade Show