Tariffs and Trade Shifts: How Libertas Funding Is Integrating Real-Time Economic Signals Into Underwriting

Newly implemented U.S. tariffs are reshaping the economic conversation for small and medium-sized businesses across the country. While the direct impact varies by industry, the broader uncertainty has left many business owners rethinking procurement, pricing, and customer communication. In this environment, Libertas Funding is leaning into its underwriting, using insights from the process to surface emerging risks and opportunities early— refining the questions it asks within a system already designed to adapt quickly to market change.

Libertas conducts hundreds of merchant interviews each month as part of its credit diligence. These interviews form the “high touch” component of the firm’s “high tech, high touch” approach to underwriting—providing critical context that financial statements and models alone can’t offer. By integrating these conversations directly into underwriting workflows, Libertas is able to evaluate merchants holistically and respond to economic signals in near real time.

“We have a remarkable window into economic activity and the on-the-ground anxieties that are front of mind for small businesses,” says David Waill, Senior Managing Director – Credit at Libertas. “Our conversations give us an immediate sense of which sectors are hesitating, which are adapting, and where the actual pressure points are—not just the headlines.”Article content goes here.

Real-Time Insights from the Field

While tariff impacts remain uneven across the economy, Libertas is already seeing patterns emerge in how merchants are responding.

Some businesses, especially those with domestic supply chains, report minimal disruption. One regional fuel service provider explained, “Our materials and suppliers are all U.S.-based, so we’re not seeing much impact from the new tariffs at this point.” That insulation, however, can also become a competitive differentiator—allowing these businesses to operate with more pricing stability while others reevaluate sourcing.

In sectors where international inputs are unavoidable, merchants are deploying a range of strategies to manage cost pressures. A packaging supplies distributor shared their plan: “We’ve already negotiated better rates with our overseas vendors and are planning to pass on about a 10% increase to our customers.” That combination of proactive vendor negotiation and transparent price adjustment is increasingly common in industries that rely heavily on imported goods.

Even in more consumer-facing businesses, leaders are anticipating and managing through potential downstream effects. An executive at a Cadillac dealership commented, “We’ve made a series of decisions upstream—on inventory and pricing—that should keep the consumer impact minimal.” In other words, these businesses are not simply reacting, but forecasting how policy changes might affect demand and adjusting early.

Adapting the Process to Capture What Matters

Libertas hasn’t enacted sweeping changes to its underwriting standards in response to the tariffs. Instead, it’s using its merchant interviews to better surface tariff-related risk or resilience on a deal-by-deal basis.

“We haven't systematically adjusted our underwriting filter," Waill explains. "But, we're absolutely focusing on key adjacent variables, including how exposed a business is to global supply chain disruption and the level of direct and indirect exposure they may have to consumer discretionary spending and confidence."

Merchant interviews have long been a cornerstone of Libertas’s underwriting model, but in recent weeks, the company has refined this process to include targeted questions about tariffs. These new prompts focus on the extent of a merchant’s foreign supplier exposure, pricing flexibility, and plans for cost containment or strategic sourcing shifts.

“Our tailored approach allows us to evaluate each business on its unique fundamentals,” says Jia-Mang Ten, Senior Analytics Officer at Libertas. “We’re not just asking whether a merchant is affected—we’re asking how they’re adapting. Are they changing vendors? Adjusting margins? Losing customers? That level of specificity helps us underwrite with confidence even in a shifting landscape.”

That ability to move quickly without losing depth is a key part of Libertas’s strategy. The company prides itself on maintaining fast, confident decision-making even as other lenders slow down or adopt more rigid policies.

“All the companies that we look at, you have to put the macro overlay,” Waill says. “But within that, once you’ve put the overlay on, you have to look at the idiosyncratic issues associated with those companies.”

Policy Signals and Market Behavior

Libertas keeps a close eye on the evolving policy landscape, including the broader goals behind recent trade actions. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has framed the new tariffs as part of a strategy to promote fairer trade, with the intended effect of not only reshoring production but also increasing U.S. exports by leveling the global playing field for American producers.

It’s an outlook that, if it plays out, could support demand in several of the industries Libertas serves. In the meantime, the company is focused on helping businesses navigate the ambiguity in the present.

“We’re seeing interesting adaptations across different sectors,” Ten notes. “Some are strategically raising prices, others are adjusting supplier relationships. The most resilient businesses are the ones that are actively rethinking how they operate—and that’s the type of merchant we’re well positioned to support.”

Remaining Flexible in a Shifting Environment

Tariffs are just the latest in a long line of external events that challenge small business owners. What sets Libertas apart is its ability to fold new developments into its process quickly—without resorting to rigid policy shifts that can slow decision-making or penalize complexity.

“Our job is to see businesses clearly, even when the world gets blurry,” says Waill. “And that starts with asking the right questions.”

By staying close to the ground and listening to merchants directly, Libertas is doing more than keeping pace with change—it’s helping business owners turn economic disruption into strategic advantage.