How CFOs should talk to stakeholders about tariffs

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Many CFOs’ businesses have been affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs, but since the trade situation is ever-changing, discussing it with stakeholders can prove challenging. In a recent webinar, April Scee, managing director and head of strategic communications at consulting firm Riveron, gave advice for communicating with investors, boards, customers, and employees around tariffs.

What stakeholders want to know has changed: Earlier in the year, Scee said, stakeholders were interested in the “headline number” or the total amount tariffs might cost a company. Now, she said, “the narrative has shifted away from ‘here’s the hit’ to ‘here’s how we’ve absorbed it, or some of it, and kept moving.’” Stakeholders now want to hear about companies’ tariff mitigation strategies, such as changing suppliers, contract terms, or pricing.

Executives need to be “somewhat prescriptive on what [their] tariff playbook is,” Scee said. They “need to talk about what’s going to show up in the P&L and when,” she said. For instance, if a company’s changing prices, leaders should discuss when the changes will affect consumers and how they’ll impact margins.

Transparency is key: Scee praised both Ford and Procter & Gamble for their approach to discussing tariffs. Ford’s “communication in 2025 wasn’t elegant, but it was really honest” and covered “the issues, the timing, and the fixes.” The approach worked because “while investors didn’t love the numbers, they respected the straight talk, and when things normalize, that transparency should pay off,” Scee said.

Procter & Gamble provided “a model of precision,” Scee said, because they quantified the effect of the tariffs early on.

“They stripped out the uncertainty and they showed how tariffs flowed through to the P&L,” she said, which gave investors confidence. “Investors appreciated the relative predictability in an unpredictable environment,” she said.

Shape your message to your audience: “Management needs to translate the operational moves into simple, relatable stories” for all stakeholders, Scee said, but leaders also need to tailor their message to their audience.

Investors, she said, are “the toughest audience,” and for them executives should go into detail about their tariff “mitigation playbook” and “spell out the impact, the timing, and the offsets.” They want to see that a company’s taking action. “Investors notice when companies adapt or when they freeze on a relative basis to their peers,” she said.

Customers, Scee said, are more concerned about stability. “They want to know that you can deliver product on time without surprises,” she said, suggesting leaders “explain how you’re protecting availability, quality, and service levels, and if price has to move, justify it with facts.”

Employees appreciate “direction and confidence,” Scee said, recommending that leaders discuss why they’re taking moves such as changing suppliers or routes and how changes to processes or systems could affect staff. Management should also talk about the ‘why’: “Focus on how these moves help the company stay competitive,” Scee said.

But the core message for all groups stays the same: “Remove the complexity on tariffs, be as specific as you can on what you’re doing, and most importantly, always tie it back to what that stakeholder cares about,” Scee said.