Protect your Profits: Build a Tariff Roadmap

Higher input costs and slowing demand are intensifying concerns about the economic impact of tariffs—particularly for cooperatives balancing cost pressures with member value. In today’s unpredictable trade environment, volatility in tariff rates makes it difficult to plan ahead, but there are more than 20 actionable techniques to reduce tariff exposure and mitigate risk.

This session will walk cooperative accounting and tax professionals through a step-by-step process to assess tariff-related vulnerabilities and develop a customized roadmap for action. You’ll explore three key strategic “buckets” that address everything from low-hanging cost savings to long-term structural planning, including:

• Bucket 1: Uncovering immediate opportunities to reduce tariff costs through invoice analysis, tax strategies, accounting treatments, and more.
• Bucket 2: Implementing short-term adjustments—like pricing models, inventory strategies, and cross-border warehousing—to protect margins.
• Bucket 3: Reimagining your global footprint with scenario modeling for board-level decisions aimed at long-term profitability.

By the end of the session, you’ll walk away with practical tools to shift your organization from defense to offense in managing tariff exposure.

Learning Objectives:

• Review three key new developments in trade policy.
• Summarize short-, medium-, and long-term strategies to reduce tariff exposure.
• Identify three foundational components of a tariff roadmap and understand how to build one.

Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Mike Smith, Principal, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA)

With more than 25 years of tax experience in public accounting, Mike provides international and M&A tax consulting services to private industry clients. He helps with inbound and outbound tax structuring, transfer pricing documentation, and attribute optimization tax strategies. Mike is licensed to represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service as an enrolled agent.

Presenter: Jennifer Clement, Client Relationship Leader, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA)

Jennifer Clement is an executive sales and marketing leader specializing in value creation for the C-suite.  In her current role at CLA, Jennifer collaborates on strategy with executives of global manufacturing and distribution companies to accelerate results.  Previously Jennifer served as a Global Business Acceleration Leader for Complete Manufacturing and Distribution (CMD).  During her time with CMD, Jennifer lived and worked in Asia from 2015-2019.  Prior to CMD, she spent 10 years in senior care technology.  Jennifer started her career at Johnson Controls (JCI) and spent nine years in global leadership roles; followed by five years at Rockwell Automation (ROK) leading c-suite strategy and marketing operations. 

Moderator: Rebecca Thoune, CPA, Signing Director, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA)

Rebecca Thoune has an extensive background providing tax planning and compliance for privately held companies, serving primarily cooperatives and the agribusiness industry. She works with clients on federal and state strategic tax planning, equity planning and management, maximizing cooperative and patron benefits, business structure consulting, and provides representation before the IRS and other state taxing authorities. Rebecca has 23+ years of tax experience in public accounting and has held various tax leadership roles throughout her career. Rebecca has spoken to various local and national organizations on technical tax topics such as the principles of cooperative taxation, tax planning and reform, equity management, COVID relief including PPP loans & forgiveness, and various state tax matters. Rebecca serves as the cooperative national tax director for CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.