Supply chain sustainability is increasingly being impacted by tariffs and trade wars, EcoVadis has said in its 2025 US Business Sustainability Landscape Outlook report.
According to the report, 72% of US executives cite tariffs and trade wars as the ‘most significant’ external supply chain risks, with more than half (56%) of respondents saying that tariff policies will likely force their organisations to compromise on sustainability or ESG priorities, and more than a fifth (22%) saying they will have a significant effect.
Some 23% of respondent said that they plan to uphold their sustainability strategies and commitments regardless of tariff and trade pressures.
‘Intensifying the pressure’
“Tariffs and trade wars are intensifying the pressure on supply chains and exposing cracks in sustainability commitments,” commented Pierre-François Thaler, co-founder and co-CEO of EcoVadis. “Leaders are being forced to make trade-offs in real time to balance immediate cost and sourcing pressures against longer-term sustainability goals.
“The companies that will come out ahead are those using supplier intelligence to see risks early, diversify their options, and avoid letting short-term shocks derail long-term resilience.”
Top concerns
Other findings from the study include that 41% of C-suite leaders cite extreme weather events and 40% cite geopolitical conflict as their top concerns. At director or VP level, meanwhile, cyber threats (36%) and labour disruptions (36%) are among the top concerns cited, along with regulatory compliance challenges, particularly related to ESG, in different regions (33%).
Some 44% of surveyed companies experienced between four and ten disruptions in the past year linked to third-party failures, trade disputes, labour issues, or environmental events, while 22% faced 11 or more.
In response, firms are stepping up actions to improve their resilience, including collaborating with partners to adjust products or services, developing additional sourcing strategies, working with suppliers on ESG topics, shifting sourcing locations, undertaking enhanced supplier-risk monitoring, and turning to continuity insurance. At the same time, some firms are taking steps to conceal their sustainability risks.
‘Big companies are more likely to hide risks,’ EcoVadis added, noting that 16% of all companies ‘admit covering up major sustainability risks in their supply base because the affected suppliers were vital to their business. Among those with revenues above $20 billion, that jumps to 30%.’ Read more here.
