The Section 122 tariff is 15%. The window is 150 days. The uncertainty about what happens after that is genuine.
If you're a small business that imports goods, you have two options. Wait and see — which is a strategy, just not a great one. Or make moves that reduce your exposure and improve your position regardless of what happens in mid-summer.
Here are seven moves worth making now, drawn from guidance at Saltbox, Quality Magazine, and Toppecon Consulting, as well as from what experienced importers are actually doing.
1. Diversify Your Sourcing
This is the obvious move, and it's the one most businesses have been slowest to execute because it's hard.
Finding a new supplier is not a weekend project. You have to identify candidates, vet quality, negotiate terms, run samples, and build the relationship before you can actually order. That process takes months.
But here's the math: businesses that started this process a year ago when the tariffs first hit have options now. Businesses that didn't are still fully exposed.
Diversification doesn't mean abandoning your current suppliers. It means reducing your dependence on any single country of origin. Vietnam, India, Mexico, and domestic manufacturers have all seen increased interest from U.S. importers in the past year. That increased demand means more competition for their capacity — another reason to move sooner rather than later.
2. Negotiate Directly with Your Suppliers
Your overseas suppliers are watching the same headlines you are. Many are under pressure from multiple U.S. customers simultaneously.
That pressure creates leverage — if you use it. The conversation to have: "These tariffs are increasing my total landed cost by X%. I need to talk about how we share that burden."
Not every supplier will move. But many will, especially if you represent meaningful volume or a long relationship. Even a 5% price reduction on your supplier cost partially offsets a 15% tariff. Don't leave that conversation on the table.
Go in with specific numbers and a clear ask. Vague complaints don't get results; concrete proposals do.
3. Use Bonded Warehouses
A bonded warehouse is a facility authorized by U.S. Customs where imported goods can be stored without paying duties until they're released for domestic sale — or re-exported.
For businesses with predictable inventory cycles, this is a meaningful cash flow tool. You're not paying the tariff on day one when goods arrive. You pay when you actually pull from inventory for sale. That timing difference can free up significant working capital, especially for seasonal businesses.
Bonded warehouse space is more in demand than it was two years ago, but availability exists. Saltbox and similar logistics providers can help you find options. Factor in storage costs; the math works best when tariff payments are large and inventory cycles are long.
4. Deploy AI for Inventory Optimization
The cost of holding too much inventory has gone up. So has the cost of running out. That tension is exactly what AI inventory tools are built to navigate.
Platforms integrated with Shopify, Square, and major ERPs can now make reasonably accurate demand forecasts and flag reorder points dynamically. For businesses managing significant import inventory, the difference between carrying the right amount and the wrong amount is a real number.
If you're still managing inventory primarily with spreadsheets and intuition, this is the moment to upgrade. The tools are not expensive relative to the cost of tariff-inflated overstock.
5. Identify Domestic Alternatives for Key SKUs
For most importers, there's a subset of products where domestic sourcing is now competitive or close to it once tariffs are factored in.
The exercise: take your top 20% of imported SKUs by volume and ask whether a domestic alternative exists and what the all-in cost comparison looks like at 15% tariff on the import. Some of those products will flip to domestic-sourcing-wins when you do the honest math.
You don't have to convert everything. But identifying the SKUs where domestic makes sense now — and building those supplier relationships — gives you flexibility as the tariff environment evolves.
6. Join Buying Groups or Industry Associations
Buying groups and trade associations negotiate collective pricing and terms with suppliers. For small businesses, participation can unlock volume pricing that individual businesses can't access alone.
This is underutilized. Many industries have formal buying groups. Some industry associations have negotiated supply chain relationships as a member benefit. If you don't know what exists in your category, one phone call to your trade association is worth making.
Group purchasing doesn't eliminate tariff costs, but it can offset them through better unit economics — which is the same practical effect.
7. Review Your HTS Codes
This is the most technical move on the list, and probably the most overlooked.
Every imported product is classified under a Harmonized Tariff Schedule code. That code determines the tariff rate. Products that could reasonably be classified under multiple codes often have different rates. "Tariff engineering" — the legal process of reviewing your classifications to ensure you're using the most favorable code that accurately describes your product — is legitimate and widely practiced.
This is not about misclassifying goods. It's about making sure you're not paying a higher rate than you're actually required to. An experienced customs broker or trade attorney can review your top import items and flag any opportunities.
According to trade consultants at Quality Magazine, businesses that had never done a formal HTS classification review frequently find meaningful savings — sometimes on items they've been importing for years.
The 150-day clock is running. The businesses that come out of this period in a stronger position will be the ones that used the time to build flexibility into their supply chain rather than waiting for the policy environment to resolve itself.
Pick one move from this list and start it this week.