NEW YORK — With the threat of tariffs up and global goodwill down, US companies are facing immensely complex communications challenges, with potentially serious impacts on their reputations and bottom lines.

A snapshot of what business is up against: a recent report by DKC found that 75% of Americans support tariffs on at least one country (China and Russia are at the top of their lists), but more than a third of respondents — 36% — couldn’t identify what a tariff is. In addition, most of the 1,000 respondents “are ready to blame business leaders” for tariff-related price increases, including 22% of Democrats.

Growing anti-US sentiment is taking its toll on American businesses too — even in once-friendly countries like Canada. A recent Harris Poll found that 62% of Gen Z and 79% of Canadian boomers are avoiding certain brands and businesses because they are American. The implications of the current Buy Canada movement could be long-lasting; 91% of the 1,514 adults surveyed said they intend to give more support to Canadian companies in the future “regardless of what happens with tariffs.”

All of which has intensified the pressure on companies — and the public affairs firms supporting them — to get their communications strategies right. With tariff announcements and policy plans constantly in flux, companies have to move fast — and still look like they’re holding it together — to keep consumer confidence up.

“The tariffs are perhaps the worst-case scenario for US companies of virtually all sizes,” said Jason Green, senior VP of communications & public affairs at Global Strategy Group. “Business leaders were already navigating a policy sea change from the federal government and an increasingly fractured media landscape, so adding more chaos into the system makes it extremely challenging to communicate with any certainty.”

“With all of this unpredictability and volatility,” he said, “we’re seeing an even higher premium put on companies and their leadership’s ability to articulate a vision for the future that builds trust among consumers, shareholders, and employees.”

Compounding the challenges for brands trying to maintain control of their reputations is the fact that, in many cases, they’re being targeted for things entirely outside their control — not because of product failures or corporate missteps, but simply for being American.

“Over the past several weeks, news outlets and social media platforms across Europe have seen a surge in calls to boycott American brands,” said Geneva-based Leidar founder and CEO Rolf Olsen. “This movement is not a reflection of the quality, value, or reputation of these U.S. brands. Rather, it is driven entirely by geopolitical tensions and rhetoric stemming from the Trump Administration, which has sparked widespread reaction and commentary.”

Olsen said it behooves companies to act fast, shoring up their reputations by focusing on simple things that matter — ethics and action among them.

“American companies need to navigate now how their Americanness will influence their stakeholders overseas. Wait and see can be a risky strategy and the road to reputational recovery can be long and windy if you let circumstances define you,” he said. “There are ways to navigate smarter. In times of turbulence the best place to be is on the high ground and be honest about the complexities of the issue and the debate surrounding it.”

Olsen is not alone in his call to action. In a slew of recent communications from public affairs firms, leaders said even companies that prefer to stay out of the limelight realize silence is not an option under current circumstances — and there is little margin for error among an array of stakeholders.

“The recent volatility in financial markets caused by the tariff whiplash has compelled CEOs and corporations to start speaking out about the serious risks to the global economy from the Trump Administration’s trade policies. If the chaos continues, I expect the volume to increase as the reality of higher prices and broad supply chain disruptions sets in,” said Bully Pulpit International managing director Adam Hodge, a former assistant U.S. trade representative for public affairs.

“Beyond reaching agenda setters in the administration on the policy side, companies need to talk to their employees about how this ongoing uncertainty will affect their jobs, to their consumers about how it’s going to impact pricing and accessibility. Keeping that messaging grounded in individual and community impact, not politics, will be the key to resonating with those audiences.”

But knowing what to say is just part of the equation. Public affairs leaders say companies need to be just as deliberate in how they say it — and to whom.

“The whiplash of tariff announcements puts immense pressure on businesses’ relationships with all of their stakeholders, from consumers to regulators to media. We’re working with a lot of brands who are recognizing they need to be more nimble in communicating with their networks and more proactive in shoring up their reputation in the Beltway and beyond to absorb these sorts of shocks,” said Henry Connelly, senior VP at Precision Strategies.
“Gambling on a private entreaty to the White House without a real motivated, activated, broad-based network of stakeholders is proving a riskier and riskier bet.

“Businesses have many of the same priorities they had before the election — they want to satisfy shareholders, grow revenue, and be seen as leaders in their industries. The landscape is more turbulent and the crosswinds more perilous, but the fundamentals haven’t changed,” he said.