Tariffs Test the Myth of Supply Chain Control

Businesses can’t manage what they can’t measure.

That simple fact, against today’s backdrop of ongoing tariff turmoil and global trade tensions, has seen supply chain visibility emerge as a critical capability for corporate leadership.

However, as many chief financial officers are discovering, simply knowing where your inputs originate isn’t enough. Supply chain mapping, once regarded as a diligence exercise performed by procurement or sustainability teams, is increasingly being vaulted into the C-suite agenda.

Visibility, however, is only the first step. Surveying supplier networks ultimately means little without integrating those insights into contracts, sourcing strategies or real-time monitoring. The strategic advantage comes from how CFOs use that information to act.

Closing the gap between visibility and action matters. Without an action plan, supply chain visibility risks becoming a false sense of security. Trade flow disruptions are impacting firms across sectors, and CFOs can no longer afford to treat procurement mapping purely as documentation. Instead, they must work to use the exercise to stress-test exposures and harden operations against shocks.

Read also: It’s Contract Renewal Season, Are Your B2B Payment Strategies Ready?

Supply Chain Mapping and the Illusion of Control

One of the biggest barriers to turning mapping into action can be an analog mindset. Many firms see it as a static Excel exercise. But supply chain networks are dynamic organisms, not single snapshots. Technology now exists to stitch together digital twins of global supply chains.

At its most basic level, supply chain mapping provides transparency. It reveals the path products take from raw material extraction to assembly to final delivery, peeling back the layers of complex global sourcing networks. It traces relationships across Tier 1 (direct), Tier 2 (indirect) and Tier 3 (raw material) suppliers, allowing companies to pierce the fog of aggregated purchasing systems.

The PYMNTS Intelligence eBook “Data Book: Tariffs Drive Price Pressures as SMBs Weigh Supply Chain Overhauls” found that among the 500 SMBs surveyed, 62% of SMBs anticipate product shortages and 66% foresee higher raw material costs as part of their supply chain picture.

However, most maps are not updated frequently enough to spot risks in real time, and the deficiencies extend to contracts. When mapping uncovers single-source vulnerabilities, vague audit rights or missing agreements, procurement teams often lack the mandate to demand change. That’s where CFOs can now enter the picture by using mapping insights to drive contract restructuring, negotiate dual-source options or justify investments in supplier diversification.

A mapped, traceable supply chain allows firms to model the cost of disruptions, evaluate near-shoring opportunities, and quantify working capital locked in delays or safety stock. It also allows finance leaders to reduce risk premiums associated with volatile regions or non-compliant partners.

See also: Firms Turn Data Quality, Procurement Visibility Into Cyber Advantages

Unlocking Embedded Resilience Through Supply Chain Insights

For CFOs balancing cost, risk and liquidity, mapping is a starting point. It provides the data foundation needed to rethink procurement as a lever for operational resilience.

“There’s a continuous evolution and … dynamic disruption in finance that requires CFOs to harness data and AI to make finance more efficient, more effective and substantially more strategic,” Mastercard Chief Commercial Payments Officer Raj Seshadri told PYMNTS during a discussion published Oct. 7 for the B2B PYMNTS 2025 event, “B2B.AI: The Architecture of Intelligent Money Movement.”

Supply chain mapping can also unearth third-party vulnerabilities. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Vendors and Vulnerabilities: The Cyberattack Squeeze on Mid-Market Firms” found that vendors and supply chains are the soft underbelly of mid-market defenses, with 38% of invoice fraud cases and 43% of phishing attacks stemming from compromised vendors.

In a fragmented global economy, knowing your suppliers is no longer enough. Acting on that knowledge is what separates companies that navigate volatility from those that are defined by it.

Separate PYMNTS Intelligence in the June CAIO Report, “The Enterprise Reset: Tariffs, Uncertainty and the Limits of Operational Response,” found that in May, more than half of surveyed firms were negotiating with suppliers for better pricing, nearly 30% were diversifying international suppliers, and nearly 6% were replacing current suppliers with domestic suppliers.

Supply chains are now a central element of enterprise risk. This may mean that the firms best positioned are those that can successfully shift from mapping to redesign, by aligning contracts, tech investments and supplier relationships toward a model that anticipates shocks before they erode margins.

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