--- title: "Reacting to Packaging Tariffs: Tips for Supply Chain Continuity" description: With rapidly changing headlines and the conversation on tariffs evolving daily, it can be difficult to know what the best course of action is to ensure business continuity. How can you prepare when you don’t know what to prepare for? image: https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/iStock-2202504467.jpg --- [Skip to Main Content](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity#main-content) Language ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/down_arrow.svg) English ESPAÑOL DEUTSCH FRANÇAIS 日本語 한국어 中文 - [PackTalk ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/packtalk/) - [ISO Certifications & Product Documents ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/iso-certifications-and-product-documents) [![Oliver_Logo_4clr_RGB_NoTag 1](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Oliver_Logo_4clr_RGB_NoTag%201.svg "Oliver_Logo_4clr_RGB_NoTag 1")](https://oliverhcp.com) Toggle Menu Search Site Search Site Search [ Contact Us ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/contact) Phone Close **Website Settings** - No Animations [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Oliver-logo-half.svg) ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/phone.svg) 833.465.4837](tel:833.465.4837) Language ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/down_arrow.svg) ENGLISH 中文 ESPAÑOL DEUTSCH FRANÇAIS 日本語 한국어 [PackTalk](https://www.oliverhcp.com/packtalk/) SEARCH![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/icon-search.svg) #### Expanded Stock Pouch Program ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/43.png) Expedited shipping from a partner you trust, now with more pouch options in a variety of sizes and materials. Don't let long lead times hold you back. Let Oliver help. [Learn More](https://www.oliverhcp.com/stockpouchprogram) [![logo-pack-talk-2](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/logo-pack-talk-2.svg) ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/packtalk/) # Reacting to Packaging Tariffs: Tips for Supply Chain Continuity [ Ryan Wasson | Director, Global Procurement & Logistics | Oliver Healthcare Packaging ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryansupplychain/) Published on: 06/03/2025 Share:  [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/LinkedIn%20Icon.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/FB%20Icon.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Email%20Icon.svg)](mailto:?subject=I%20wanted%20to%20share%20this%20great%20article&body=The%20article%20I%20wanted%20to%20share%20-%20https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) With rapidly changing headlines and the conversation on tariffs evolving daily, it can be difficult to know what the best course of action is to ensure business continuity. How can you prepare when you don’t know what to prepare for? The most interesting part about this situation is the fluidity of it. The on again, off again environment we are living in right now, makes it difficult to navigate. What we do know is that this is not the first time we have seen a disruptive supply chain landscape in the past 10 years, and it certainly will not be the last. We’ve seen geopolitical conflict, trade wars, port congestion, COVID-19, and the Texas freeze, just to name a few. The one constant is that disruption is everywhere and, ultimately, how we manage it is the most critical part.  I spent my early career working within and leading elements of supply chain at Cook Medical. When potential disruption hits, I like to lean on those early days to consider an approach that works for my team(s) today and, ultimately, prioritizes our customers. With this in mind, there are a few key areas I recommend our customers focus on to mitigate risk when working with suppliers:   1 ## Maintain appropriate levels of safety stock. Experiencing potential, or actual, supply disruption can result in a desire to simply increase orders and/or stock levels. This can have an undesired result. I often advise teams, whether internal or external, to use a consistent approach, supported by data, and avoid over-correction.  2 ## Embrace communication with your suppliers. I find communication to be one of the most effective tools in our toolkit. Frequently communicating the good and bad, helps establish trust and a baseline from which to work when potential disruption hits. This applies to forecasting, too. The more we understand, the better we can respond to and plan for fluctuation in demand.  3 ## Understand your supplier’s sourcing strategy. Suppliers have the ability to take steps that will ultimately reduce sourcing risk and minimize disruption. We do this at Oliver through various initiatives. One of my favorites is the work we are doing at the Oliver Wiggensbach site—it's a great example of smart sourcing decisions being purposefully built into products that will ultimately minimize future risk.   4 ## Keep an open mind to meaningful change. This is really important—suppliers sometimes have an opportunity to add additional raw materials, secondary supplier sites, etc. Given the nature of our industry, it requires close partnership between key stakeholders to effectively implement these initiatives. While this is always important, it becomes even more so in periods of potential disruption.  5 ## Give some consideration to risk management. Regardless of where your organization is today in its risk management journey, take a minute to think about those areas, big or small, that are most likely to present business risk and how you would characterize each through a lens of probability and impact. With this, you can determine the best course of action to mitigate the risk. Sometimes, you’ll find very small tweaks can have a large impact on risk reduction.  6 ## Work with a seasoned supplier team. A strong, seasoned team of professionals can make a big difference in effectively navigating potential disruption. This is something I value about Oliver—we have a cross-functional team that has navigated many periods of potential disruption within our industry and is well-suited to navigate this one as well.  The best advice I can give right now is to embrace communication and proactively share updates, be it good or bad, around changes and events that are impactful to your business. Also, look for those small improvements that can be made today and will yield incremental improvements in the short- and mid-term. There is unfortunately, no magic formula (we wish there was!)—it’s all about being flexible, communicating well, prioritizing actions based on probability and risk, and working closely with partners.     **Looking to learn more? Here are a few other articles I’ve found helpful:**  - [PackTalk: The Supply Chain Roller Coaster.](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/supply-chain-roller-coaster)   - [Gartner: Preparing for the Future Supply Chain](https://www.gartner.com/en/supply-chain/topics/future-of-supply-chain)  - [NAM: Mapping the Impact of a Port Strike](https://nam.org/mapping-the-impact-of-a-port-strike-32072/?stream=issue-transportation-infrastructure&utm_source=link&utm_medium=social)  - [McKinsey & Company: Supply chain risk management is back](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/supply-chain-risk-management-is-back)    Share:  [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/LinkedIn%20Icon.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/FB%20Icon.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Email%20Icon.svg)](mailto:?subject=I%20wanted%20to%20share%20this%20great%20article&body=The%20article%20I%20wanted%20to%20share%20-%20https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/reacting-to-packaging-tariffs-tips-for-supply-chain-continuity) ## Stay up to date with PackTalk! FOLLOW US: [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/LinkedIn%20Icon.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/oliverhealthcarepackaging) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/FB%20Icon.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/oliverhcp/) [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Content%20Hub/youtube.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzbJZ9TG2QK46F_EV-szUMg) ## Recently Published Articles [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/seal%20creep%20blog.png) ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/investigating-seal-creep-looking-beyond-the-packaging) ### [Investigating Seal Creep: Looking Beyond the Packaging](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/investigating-seal-creep-looking-beyond-the-packaging) Lee Hyland ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Content%20Hub/icon-mt-blog-article.svg) Education Regulations and Standards  — 2 minute read [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/megan%20blog%206-23.jpg) ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/preventing-packaging-failures-with-hdpe-cards) ### [Preventing Packaging Failures with HDPE Cards](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/preventing-packaging-failures-with-hdpe-cards) Christian Packard ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Content%20Hub/icon-mt-blog-article.svg) Regulations and Standards  — 2 minute read [![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Blog%20Image%20%286%29.png) ](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/australias-unique-device-identification-framework) ### [Australia’s Unique Device Identification Framework](https://www.oliverhcp.com/news-and-resources/packtalk/australias-unique-device-identification-framework) Beryl Choo ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/Content%20Hub/icon-mt-blog-article.svg) Regulations and Standards Medical Device  — 3 minute read ## Contact Us ![](https://www.oliverhcp.com/hubfs/icon-mail-alt.svg) CONTACT US CHAT ![](https://dc.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=94507&fmt=gif)