Key strategies for navigating the uncertainty of global tariffs: Tips from ThirdLove, BK Beauty, Whanau, and Good Company
Gabriella Sanchez
·April 16, 2025
When it comes to tariffs, the entire ecommerce industry is having a collective WTF moment. With constantly changing tariff rates, timelines, and exceptions, there’s no way to avoid the whiplash—and how can you build a clear path forward when the goalposts are constantly changing?
We’re not going to sugarcoat the situation or suggest just one magic solution. Instead, we brought together a group of industry experts for a no-holds-barred, candid roundtable discussion to share what they’re seeing and what ecommerce operators can do to curb the chaos.
Our expert speakers are:
- Andreas Andrea, Sr. Director of Operations, ThirdLove
- Jennifer Hernandez, Director of Operations, BK Beauty
- Chris Ormonde, Director, Whanau
- Chad Carleton, CEO, Good Company
Watch the webinar here, or read on for key takeaways from the event.
Understand that everyone is in the same boat
In recent weeks, e-commerce brands have been hit with unexpected tariff hikes on products imported from China and other global manufacturing hubs. Section 321 de minimis rules are also under scrutiny, creating massive uncertainty for businesses relying on cross-border fulfillment models.
The result? Widespread confusion, halted shipments, and skyrocketing costs—with no clear answers in sight.
BK Beauty, for instance, sells makeup brushes—a product that was completely duty-free until February. “You cannot produce makeup brushes in the United States, therefore this is all very new to me, and I've become a trade compliance expert overnight,” says Jennifer Hernandez, Director of Operations at BK Beauty. “We, as of today, are facing a 165% tariff against our product, which is not ideal.”
ThirdLove, on the other hand, had already been paying tariffs, but they’d been diversifying their supply chain away from China and into countries like Sri Lanka and Vietnam to minimize their impact. “I think what really threw a curve ball at us was the other countries that got hit by the substantially high tariffs, and it basically became a situation where there is nowhere safe to go. So that is really the challenge on the sourcing side,” says Andreas Andrea, Sr. Director of Operations at ThirdLove.
“No one's impacted positively by this,” adds Chris Ormonde, Director at Whanau. “I work with some brands who … are international brands who source in China or don't source in China. Whatever maths you do there, the outcome is basically their costs of goods have gone up. There's a load of people who are asking, ‘what do I do?’ And no one really has an answer.”
The “good” news is that everyone is going through the same thing.
“It's important to understand that and maybe have a bit of perspective when you think, ‘oh my God, my business is going to go overnight and what am I going to do?’ adds Ormonde. “It's like everyone feels like this in one way or the other, and you've got to hope that the market will correct itself... I guess it's unknown at the minute, but it does seem that the current situation today is probably not sustainable going forward.”
Be proactive to minimize the pain
While waiting for clarity on international trade policy, it’s important to look for ways to lower your operating costs and minimize your risk levels. Some strategies shared by the panelists include:
Take advantage of a bonded warehouse.
Bonded warehouses are secure storage facilities that enable you to import and store products, but you will not have to pay any import duties or taxes until those goods are released for sale or distribution within the country. “For e-commerce companies who are sending finished goods into a 3PL, they should temporarily at least look at a bonded facility,” says Chad Carleton, CEO of Good Company.
“If you have inventory that turns over relatively quickly, the reality is sometimes you're paying tariffs before they would've actually been due because you've got a little bit of runway when you import goods. But if you are saying, ‘alright, let me stockpile this and let's wait this out just a little bit and see if I might be able to draw back some of the duties or maybe even send them out of the country.’ If it's going to reach that point, then a bonded facility allows you to defer the duties for up to five years. That's more than enough runway to wait out and see what the real intent of the tariff implementation is.”
Delay upcoming shipments.
If your inventory supply levels are in good shape, it’s a good idea to wait out the uncertainty for as long as you can. “We had inventory scheduled to leave our supplier on Monday that we ended up asking them to hold indefinitely until we understand what the impact of this is long-term,” says Hernandez. “Our hope, obviously, is that [the tariffs] will optimistically go away and if not, just at least go down. So every single day we're looking at how holding the inventory will impact our business, how long we can hold the inventory.”
Collaborate with your suppliers.
Remember that your foreign suppliers are invested in your brand’s success, and will do what they can to help you. “Partner with your existing suppliers and work together,” says Hernandez.”We're all in this together and we're all trying to find solutions. So rather than try to reinvent the wheel on your own from your tiny brand, see what your supplier can leverage. Can they store things for you? Can you hold production that you already had planned for the year? Help them just kind of understand where you are and ask them how they can help. Because their success is reliant on our success as well. And so they're motivated to help their customers.”
Focus on strategic diversification.
Many brands had already seen the writing on the wall and started shifting their production out of China—but with other countries caught in the crosshairs of tariff policy, no market is risk-free. The panelists have seen brands moving production into countries including Cambodia and Vietnam, which are currently facing tariff rates of 40% and 46%, though those rates may be subject to negotiation. “I guess long-term diversification out of China probably makes sense, but it still doesn't fix the fact that brands are going to take a significant margin hit,” adds Ormonde.
Don’t raise prices (yet)
If your cost of goods is doubling or tripling, it may seem like a good option to recoup your expenses by raising prices on your customers—but for now, it’s smart to resist the temptation. Don’t risk alienating loyal customers when you don’t know how all of this is going to play out yet. “For brands who've got stock in the US today, you do have a bit of time on your side,” says Ormonde. “Let the big players see what they're doing, and then follow suit or don't follow suit. But if you just up prices today because you're panicking that your costs are going to go up in the stock that's coming in the next couple of weeks or months, conversion will drop off today. It would feel like a rash decision.”
Rethink your returns operations
While a price increase may be premature, it’s a great time to start reviewing your returns policies and operations to see where you can cut costs.
If you’d been thinking “‘I want to change my free shipping threshold, I want to charge for returns, I want to reduce the returns window’… I think now it's harder internally for folks who may not have liked that idea to say, ‘No, I continue to not want to do this,’” says Andreas. “Everybody realizes that now might be time for a change.”
It’s also important to make sure that any products that you export into the U.S. stay in the U.S. after being returned, or you’ll risk being whopped with additional tariffs when re-shipping. “I would really advise any brands who have international shipping into the US and have any returns rate to set a rule pretty quickly that once stock goes in the US today, it never goes out, because paying duties back and forth could get really expensive,” says Ormonde.
Stay informed
International trade policy is changing by the day—so it’s important to come up with a comprehensive list of resources for education where you can get real-world, tactical advice and information.
Some of our panelists’ favorite go-to resources include:
- Ryan Petersen (Flexport)
- Aaron Rubin (ShipHero)
- Matt Hertz (Second Marathon / Third Person)
- Odd Lots Podcast – Great for macroeconomic context
- Parabola Community – For operations professionals
- Loop’s regularly-updated tariff blog
Stay informed on the latest tariff developments
Essential updates and strategies to mitigate the impact of tariff changes on your business.
Access tariff resource hubDon’t be afraid to lean on your own network, either: “I just have a few close industry friends. I have text threads where we're just talking about tariffs all day every day, and they're finding we're each sharing our own sources,” says Hernandez. “So less of the more global influences and folks that are posting on social media, and more of the boots on the ground, people that are understanding how this is affecting our individual companies at a more granular level. I think that has been more valuable for me.”
Loop also has a great ecosystem of tech vendors, 3PLs, and consultants—drop us a line at partnerships@loopreturns.com, and we’ll connect you with recommended resources in our partner network to help.
Stay calm and take a deep breath—we’ll all get through this together.
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