Trump tariffs have caused uncertainty for the channel community across the globe

New IPED Consulting research discovers what the channel thinks about these surprise tariffs.

If you ask anyone in the channel about the Trump Tariffs expect the word uncertainty to be their response.

US President Donald Trump announced the tariffs on April 2 with every country getting slapped with a minimum 10 percent levy – some countries in APAC were hit with tariffs up to 70 and 80 percent.

But a week later, Trump put a 90 day pause on the tariffs, the world breathing a sigh of relief, at least for three months.

Regardless of when these tariffs will start up, new research from IPED Consulting said the levies from the US president have created uncertainty for their businesses.

Commenting on how the tariffs will impact their business, one APAC business said, “These are exciting questions that we would very much like to answer.

“However, due to the currently very volatile decisions in the USA and Europe, we are currently not in a position to provide serious assessments and real answers.”

Across the globe, American partners are also feeling uncertain with one president of a US-based MSP saying the uncertainty is the obstacle.

“We are having conversations, we're sending information to our sales teams, we're asking for client input. But it's all just a lot of data points without any impact or anything to make a decision on,” they said.

Channel leaders are taking a cautious approach to their next steps, as the waters are becoming rough, leaders don’t want to rock the boat.

According to the report, most solution providers are in “informational collection mode”. They are trying not to overreact to something that might change tomorrow.

Communication is key for these times with solution providers staying closer to their customers to understand impacts. They are also actively engaging with distributors and OEMs to anticipate impacts and provide transparency.

Vendors are following a similar strategy, with the research from IPED Consulting showing they are very conscious of not “over-rotating” on channel pricing or stocking actions.

They are becoming more aware of the impact to MSP business models with significant recurring revenue contract lock-ins.

The research also noted that some vendors worry that this will impact significant AI related pipelines, others anticipate growth.

In terms of channel growth, the general sentiment is cautiously optimistic, some channel leaders understand that growth may stall but they are expecting a comeback for the second half of the financial calendar.

Many channel leaders have been investing in expectation of growth in 2025, unclear on how to proceed and many holding spending flat until clarity returns.

However, some are using uncertainty as an opportunity, security threats increasing means a need for greater efficiency.

Vendors have the same sentiments with no impact on their growth but they will continue to monitor the situation.

IPED Consulting is owned by The Channel Company.