TL;DR: Small business importers paid an average of $306,000 in tariffs in the 12 months ending February 2026, and monthly customs duty payments tripled from $8,400 to $27,200. With 82% of companies raising prices and 97% deploying at least one mitigation strategy, the businesses that protect margins are the ones using technology to gain visibility, automate procurement scenarios, and diversify suppliers. North Carolina manufacturers and importers face a particularly sharp version of this challenge.
Key takeaway: Tariff pressure has shifted from a finance-team problem to a technology problem. The businesses outperforming the average in 2026 share three traits: real-time visibility into landed cost, scenario-planning tools for sourcing decisions, and ERP systems that can model an alternative supply chain before the next policy shift.
Need to model tariff impact across your supply chain? Preferred Data Corporation provides ERP, business intelligence, and managed IT services for NC manufacturers and importers. BBB A+ rated since 1987. Call (336) 886-3282 or request a consultation.
How tariffs are reshaping small business economics in 2026
The numbers from Center for American Progress, the Joint Economic Committee, and KPMG's 2026 Tariff Survey tell a consistent story:
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average annual tariff cost (importing SMB) | $306,000 | Center for American Progress |
| Monthly customs payment growth (Jan 2025 to Jan 2026) | $8,400 to $27,200 | Center for American Progress |
| Small businesses citing tariffs as primary financial concern | 42% | Federal Reserve |
| SMBs reporting negative tariff impact | 61% | NSBA 2026 Trade Impact Survey |
| Companies raising prices | 82% | KPMG 2026 Tariff Survey |
| Companies with at least one mitigation strategy | 97% | KPMG 2026 Tariff Survey |
| SMBs that changed suppliers in the last 12 months | ~35% | FreightWaves |
| SMBs delaying investments or hiring | 22% | Quality Magazine |
The composition matters. Small manufacturers and importers concentrated in textiles, furniture, electronics, and industrial components — three of which are anchor industries in the Piedmont Triad — face the steepest exposure.
Why North Carolina small businesses feel this acutely
High Point is the home furnishings capital. Hickory anchors a manufacturing belt that includes furniture, textiles, and fiber-optic cable. Charlotte and Greensboro host distribution and logistics operations that move imported goods across the Southeast. NC manufacturers report three structural tariff exposures:
- Direct imports of intermediate goods. Specialty chemicals, electronic components, and machinery parts often have no domestic equivalent at competitive price.
- Embedded tariffs in domestic supply. Even businesses that "buy American" carry tariff costs hidden in upstream component prices.
- Customer-side pressure. Large OEMs and big-box retailers continue to push price reductions even as supplier costs rise.
The result: the NC small businesses outperforming the regional average are the ones with the data infrastructure to find pennies in places competitors cannot see.
Key takeaway: Tariffs are not a finance department problem any more than ransomware is an IT department problem. They are an operational problem that requires data, integration, and modern systems to manage.
Where IT modernization protects margin
Six concrete places technology investment is moving the needle for NC small businesses navigating tariffs:
1. Landed-cost visibility in the ERP
Most small businesses still calculate "cost" using vendor invoice price. With duties, fuel surcharges, freight, and broker fees changing month over month, that number is increasingly unreliable. An ERP modernization project that pushes true landed cost into the system of record gives the sales team accurate pricing and the procurement team a real comparison across suppliers.
For PDC's manufacturer clients running on legacy Pervasive SQL or aging ERP systems, this often starts as a data integration project to bring customs broker feeds and freight invoices into one place.
2. Supplier diversification platforms
Diversifying suppliers in spreadsheets does not scale. 35% of SMBs changed suppliers in the past year and the leaders are doing it with structured supplier qualification, audit data, capacity tracking, and contractual terms living in a single procurement platform.
Supply chain visibility technology covers the architecture in detail.
3. AI-powered scenario planning
The 2026 tariff environment changes too quickly for static models. The KPMG 2026 Tariff Survey found heavy analytics users more than doubled year over year. Practical use cases:
- "If tariffs on this HTS code go up 10 points next quarter, what is the margin impact?"
- "Which SKUs make sense to dual-source from Mexico, Vietnam, and Tennessee?"
- "How much price increase can each customer segment absorb before churn risk crosses our threshold?"
AI use cases for small manufacturers explores the implementation patterns.
4. Inventory optimization
Tariffs raise the cost of holding the wrong inventory. Modern inventory management systems with demand sensing reduce safety-stock waste, identify slow movers, and flag SKUs where the next planned reorder is going to be uneconomic before the PO is cut.
OEE improvement technology and inventory analytics often share the same underlying data platform.
5. Cost-to-serve analytics
When margins compress, not every customer is profitable any more. Cost-to-serve analytics fold landed cost, freight, returns, and customer-specific service intensity into a real profit-per-customer view. Sales leaders use it to renegotiate, requalify, or fire unprofitable accounts.
6. Cash-flow visibility
22% of small businesses have delayed investments or hiring because of tariff-related cash-flow stress. Modern financial reporting tools and forecasting connected directly to the ERP turn cash-flow management from a monthly close exercise into a daily decision-support tool.
Power BI manufacturing dashboards are a common first step for NC manufacturers.
Tariff mitigation: technology vs. spreadsheet
| Capability | Spreadsheet approach | Modernized approach |
|---|---|---|
| Landed cost | Static, recomputed quarterly | Live in ERP, updated per shipment |
| Supplier alternatives | Email + phone outreach | Procurement platform, scoring, RFQs |
| Scenario planning | Manual analyst week | Self-serve "what if" in BI tool |
| Customer profitability | Lagging by 60+ days | Daily cost-to-serve dashboards |
| Inventory decisions | Reorder points unchanged | Demand sensing, dynamic safety stock |
| Cash flow | Monthly P&L | Daily integrated forecast |
| Time to act on policy change | Weeks | Days |
The businesses that can act in days, not weeks, capture the price moves that protect annual margin.
Want to see what a 90-day tariff-response IT roadmap looks like for your business? Call Preferred Data Corporation at (336) 886-3282 or request a consultation.
A realistic 90-day tariff-response IT roadmap
For an NC small manufacturer or importer with 25 to 150 employees:
Days 1 to 30: Visibility
- Inventory existing systems (ERP, accounting, freight, customs broker)
- Integrate broker fees and duties into landed cost in the ERP
- Build a first-pass tariff-impact dashboard in Power BI or equivalent
- Identify top 20 SKUs and top 20 customers by margin exposure
Days 31 to 60: Sourcing
- Stand up a supplier diversification scorecard (capacity, quality, cost, geography)
- Issue RFQs to alternative suppliers in lower-tariff jurisdictions or domestic
- Engage customs counsel on tariff engineering, HTS classification reviews, and First Sale eligibility
Days 61 to 90: Acceleration
- Layer AI scenario planning over the dashboard
- Implement cost-to-serve analytics for top customers
- Build a quarterly review cadence with sales, ops, and finance
- Document the runbook for the next policy change
A realistic budget is $40,000 to $120,000 of one-time technology and integration work plus modest ongoing licensing, depending on existing systems. Comparing that to a $306,000 average annual tariff bill, even a 5% margin recovery pays back the investment in months.
Where Preferred Data helps NC manufacturers
PDC has been integrating ERP and operational data for NC manufacturers since the late 1980s, originally on Pervasive SQL and now across modern cloud and hybrid architectures. Practical engagements include:
- ERP integration with customs broker, freight, and 3PL data feeds
- Power BI dashboards for landed cost, customer margin, and inventory
- Custom software bridges between legacy systems and modern platforms
- AI readiness assessments to identify scenario-planning use cases
- OT/IT integration so production data informs sourcing decisions
Key takeaway: The pandemic taught NC businesses that resilient supply chains are not optional. Tariffs are the second wave of the same lesson. The technology stack that handled "wait and see" cannot handle "structured volatility."
About Preferred Data Corporation
Preferred Data Corporation (PDC) is a managed IT, custom software, and ERP services provider headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, serving manufacturers, importers, and distribution businesses across the Piedmont Triad, Hickory, Charlotte metro, and the Research Triangle. PDC's engineers have implemented ERP modernization, business intelligence, and integration projects for NC manufacturers continuously since 1987.
Discuss a tariff-response roadmap for your business:
- Call (336) 886-3282
- Visit preferreddata.com/contact
- Email [email protected]
Frequently Asked Questions
Is replacing our ERP really necessary to manage tariffs?
Often no. The leading practice is to extend the existing ERP with integrations to customs broker, freight, and BI tools so landed cost and scenario data live in one place. Replacement only makes sense when the current ERP cannot hold the required fields or when modernization was already on the roadmap.
How much technology investment does a small NC importer actually need?
Most engagements for 25 to 150 person businesses land in the $40,000 to $120,000 range for the initial 90-day program, plus modest ongoing licensing. Compared to an average $306,000 annual tariff bill, the payback is usually in months not years if even a few percent of margin is recovered.
Can AI really help with tariff planning, or is it overhyped?
For scenario modeling and supplier scoring, AI is delivering measurable value. PwC's 2026 AI Performance Study found that leading adopters are focused on growth and margin, not just productivity. The most successful small businesses use AI to compress weeks of analyst work into hours, not to replace decisions.
What about tariff refunds and the CAPE portal?
The CAPE refund portal opened in April 2026 with $166 billion in tariff refunds potentially available. Small businesses face administrative complexity and competition from larger filers with dedicated trade counsel. Technology to extract HTS codes, duty amounts, and shipment data from existing systems is a prerequisite for filing efficiently.
Should we hire someone full-time to manage this, or use a managed provider?
For most NC small businesses under 200 employees, the cost-effective path is a vCIO or fractional IT leadership engagement combined with a managed IT relationship for execution. Full-time hires for trade compliance technology rarely make sense below a certain scale.
Related Resources
- Managed IT Services for Manufacturers
- Custom Software Development
- Supply Chain Visibility Technology
- Power BI Manufacturing Dashboards
- AI Use Cases for Small Manufacturers
- OT/IT Convergence for Manufacturers
- vCIO Services for Manufacturers
- IT Services in High Point
- IT Services in Hickory
- IT Services in Charlotte