Tariffs are changing contracts – here’s how legal teams can stay ahead 

When I started my career as an in-house attorney in the oil and gas space, I spent weeks – sometimes months – negotiating complex contracts. Fifty or sixty versions wasn’t unusual. I learned quickly that contracts were living records of risk, value, and relationships. 

Fast forward to today, and the challenges aren’t any smaller. In fact, global events like tariffs are making contract management more important than ever. Agiloft’s latest report, “Navigating Tariff Turbulence: The Operational Impact of Global Trade Policies on Contract Management” surveyed more than 600 legal, procurement, and commercial professionals across the U.S. and U.K., providing a first-of-its-kind look at how legal, finance, and procurement teams are adapting to one of the biggest external pressures business face right now. 

Here is what the data reveals – and what it means for anyone navigating today’s tariff-driven reality. 

Clauses are expanding to capture tariff risk 

The most striking finding: 92% of organizations now include tariff-related language in their contracts.  

When almost every organization makes a move like this, it signals a real shift in how businesses view changes in a volatile trade environment. What is especially fascinating is the role that contractual documents play in this shift. Contracts have never just been passive records of “what we agreed to,” they are dynamic instruments of risk management that account for the future as well. In other words, contracts are actively shaping how businesses prepare and plan for volatility. 

We’ve seen this play out in the automotive industry, where Ford and GM are both facing steeper tariffs, affecting supplier agreements. Or, in tech, where companies like Apple have had to negotiate terms with manufacturers to hedge against shifting duties on imports from China.  

I’ve seen teams struggle with this firsthand. You try to build in protections against every possible tariff twist, yet a simple agreement can turn into a marathon of revisions. The challenge here is moving quickly while finding ways to stay agile without slowing down the business. 

Tariff pressures increase contract complexity across industries 

Based on our survey data, 73% of respondents say tariffs have increased the complexity of contract negotiations, and 71% reported higher costs in contract management directly attributed to tariffs. 

I see a ripple effect here: longer review cycles, heavier workloads, and rising pressure across procurement, finance, and business stakeholders to stay aligned. Half of the organizations we surveyed admitted they’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of contracts requiring renegotiations. 

We can see the real-world consequences in the retail industry, where companies like Walmart and Target have had to renegotiate supplier contracts mid-cycle just to account for new duties. Each adjustment adds time, cost, and stress across the business. Or, take construction firms importing materials like steel: every shift in tariffs forces them to revisit pricing agreements, often while projects are already underway. I’ve been there, and it is not for the faint of heart.  

This complexity has a cost that isn’t always measured in dollars. It’s also measured in frustration, burnout, and time-consuming tasks. Ultimately, what we’re seeing in the data is that tariffs may start as a trade policy issue, but they can quickly become a business-wide operational challenge. 

Legal and procurement teams struggle to keep up with tariff chaos 

Another revealing data point from our report: 39% of organizations cite that lack of real-time collaboration with procurement or finance teams as one of the biggest challenges when addressing tariff impacts in contracts.  

This is where contracts often break down. You’ve got procurement rushing to secure suppliers, finance modeling cost impacts, IT managing compliance tools, and legal trying to thread the needle across all of it. Without shared systems and data, these teams are often working in parallel, but not truly together. 

A good example of this is the semiconductor industry, where tariffs on chip imports have forced legal, supply chain, and finance leaders into near-constant coordination and alignment. Companies that had already invested in integrated Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms adapted faster, while those stuck working in spreadsheets and email chains struggled.  

The lesson here is simple but urgent: tariffs don’t respect organizational boundaries or timelines. The only way to respond effectively is to tear down silos and create contracting processes that promote cross-collaboration, empower organizations to use data to run smarter, and reach agreement quickly and collaboratively. 

Modernizing contract workflows to handle trade disruption 

So, what do we do with all of these insights? The numbers are stark, but they also point us toward a path forward. 

First, we need smarter tools. AI-driven contract analytics can scan thousands of contracts in minutes, flagging which ones are at risk and surfacing the clauses that matter most. In addition to saving valuable time, these data-rich insights are a lifeline when you’re trying to stay ahead of fast-moving trade policy shifts. 

Second, the real magic comes from community-driven playbooks. A set of tariff playbooks developed by the Screens Community – a Buyer’s Perspective, a Seller’s Perspective, and Key Terms to Know – are forged from the experiences of seasoned legal experts who’ve been in the trenches, navigating sudden tariff changes, juggling supplier demands, and managing complex contracts. Teams everywhere can benefit from their collective know-how to make faster, smarter, less stressful decisions. 

Finally, we need to treat contracts and agreements as living systems. When built on a data-first platform, contracts can feed intelligence across the business, informing strategy, reducing risk, and most importantly, keeping teams connected when it matters most. 

The bottom line  

Tariffs aren’t going away – if anything, they’re accelerating. But here’s the silver lining: in times of volatility, contracting processes can transform from bottlenecks into strategic pathways. Organizations that meet these challenges head on, embed flexibility into their agreements, invest in systems that turn contract data into business intelligence, and build cultures of community and collaboration that cut across traditional siloes, will be the ones that thrive with resilience. 

I’ll be doing an in-depth analysis of this survey data with fellow industry peers on Friday, October 3rd If you’re interested, join me and register here for our webinar, “Navigating Tariff Turbulence: Why Every Contract Needs Political Risk Planning.”