Navigating Trade Uncertainty with Coupa's Tariffs Tool

According to research from The Conference Board, more than half of CEOs rank trade wars as the top geopolitical risk in 2025.

The challenge for leaders lies in understanding exactly how tariffs affect their cost structures and operational flows.

Coupa's newly-introduced Tariff Impact Planning (TIP) app – part of its Supply Chain Solutions suite – targets businesses in need of clarity when it comes to navigating complex global trade rules. The platform focuses on supporting organisations as they adapt to geopolitical realities that affect trade and tariffs, enabling them to protect profitability in an unstable environment.

A structured approach to sourcing

Coupa’s Supply Chain Solutions offer tools to create tariff-optimised supply chains. This means examining existing networks, predicting future impacts, and testing alternate strategies that balance reduced tariffs with operational efficiency while safeguarding the bottom line.

The TIP app provides businesses with a structured approach to sourcing, manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain design. It gives access to modelling capabilities that allow decision-makers to respond quickly to policy changes and market disruptions.

Nick Banich, Chief Revenue Officer at the leading supply chain consultancy Miebach, comments: "Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world briefly experienced a unique moment without competing global powers. But today, with the US and China wielding economic tools as diplomatic levers – and Europe emerging as a potential third pole – it appears the era of free trade has shifted to a contest over evolving definitions of ‘fair trade'. 

"For supply chain leaders, this means recent tariffs aren’t a short-term anomaly; they’re part of a long-term norm.

"Hoping for a sudden change to this trend is risky. Instead, leaders need to look to sophisticated automation and technology, like Coupa's Tariff Impact Planning app, to gain the necessary visibility, model complex scenarios and make data-backed decisions that safeguard margins and minimise disruption."

Core capabilities for tariff management

The TIP app has four main functions that address common challenges in tariff exposure.

Tariff optimisation allows supply chain teams to assess their current networks and compare alternative options. It weighs the trade-offs between cost, service level and risk across production and sourcing locations, helping to determine which setup limits tariff costs without undermining service delivery.

Duty drawback analysis focuses on identifying opportunities to recover paid duties. By mapping the movement of goods through the supply chain, businesses can see where they qualify for refunds based on imported materials used in exported products.

Layered tariff evaluation looks at the tariff costs attached to raw materials, semi-finished goods and final products. This helps avoid situations where compounded tariffs inflate costs unnecessarily across different production stages.

Pricing and market access assessment enables leaders to run scenarios based on changes in trade policy or market conditions. This guides pricing strategies so that competitive positioning is maintained while managing the customer impact of possible cost increases.

Building resilience through modelling

Crucially, the TIP app integrates into Coupa’s broader supply chain modelling capabilities.

Businesses can simulate the full journey of goods, from raw materials to finished products, calculating the combined effect of tariffs at each stage. This modelling supports more informed decisions about sourcing, routing and market entry, ensuring cost increases are anticipated rather than reacted to.

Dean Bain, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Supply Chain at Coupa, warns of the scale of potential disruption: "A lasting trade war could be a black swan event with seismic impacts to supply chains, the likes of which we haven't seen since the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As we’ve seen before, supply chains are extremely fragile and the potential for severe disruptions create dramatic downstream business challenges for each of our customers.

"With these new tools Coupa is helping companies create an adaptive strategy that suits their unique business model, protecting margins and maintaining their competitive edge even amid ongoing volatility."

By providing visibility into layered tariffs, duty drawbacks and cost-impact scenarios, Coupa aims to provide the data businesses need to adapt supply chain strategies in real time.

This level of readiness could prove essential in a trade environment where tariff changes are both frequent and long-lasting.