Trump's tariffs have been good for consulting firms

Consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, PwC, and KPMG have seen increased demand since Trump began levying tariffs.

• Consulting firms have seen increased demand since President Donald Trump began levying tariffs.
• Leaders from McKinsey, BCG, PwC, KPMG, and SIB told BI old and new clients alike are reaching out.
• "We're seeing double-digit growth in our revenue and bookings in several sectors," KPMG said.

President Donald Trump's tariffs have shaken financial markets, spurred consumer stockpiling, and forced businesses to brace for hits to their bottom lines.

While another of Trump's efforts, DOGE, has hurt the consulting industry, the tariffs, aimed at narrowing the $1.2 trillion trade deficit in goods the US imported in 2024, have so far spared the services sector, leaving consultancies largely untouched.

That puts them in a unique position to help companies trying to navigate shifting trade dynamics and rising costs. Leaders from McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, PwC, SIB consulting, and KPMG told Business Insider they're being tapped more often by both existing and new clients seeking guidance.

Kristin Bohl, a PwC partner for customs and international trade who is leading the Big Four firm's tariff advisory work, told BI that since Trump's announcement on April 2, PwC is "definitely seeing an uptick in demand."

She said tariffs are a multi-dimensional problem, so multiple lines of PwC's business, including finance, tax, logistics, and tech, are in demand, resulting in a "doubling down or tripling down" in interest from clients.

McKinsey & Company launched a "Geopolitics" practice more than a year ago, Cindy Levy, a senior partner at the firm, told BI. "Since then, we've seen interest from both long-standing and new clients — especially around scenario planning, cross-functional response, and navigating an increasingly uncertain global environment," she said.

McKinsey is hearing from companies in several sectors, but most notably from those "highly exposed to trade shifts," including semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, automotive, and electronics. The firm is also seeing "growing interest" from consumer sectors, which are especially sensitive to pricing and sourcing, Levy said.

Rich Lesser, BCG's global chair, told BI that the firm has had several "new conversations" with existing clients. "Trade and tariffs were not a hot topic a year ago," he said.

It's good timing, in a way. As part of the Elon Musk-led effort at the White House DOGE Office to cut costs, federal agencies have been asked to review and justify their spending on consultants.

Several consulting firms earlier told BI that government contracts make up a significant portion of their income, threatening their bottom line. So, increased demand from current corporate clients — and new interest from new ones — for advice on navigating Trump's trade war has been a needed win for consulting firms.

Lesser said clients are largely seeking "insight on how we see this playing out." However, the tariff discussions have also brought "renewed energy" to longer-standing questions about driving productivity and adopting AI, he added.

SIB, a consultancy that specializes in cost-reduction, told BI that it had seen "a noticeable uptick in inbound inquiries since April 2," building on the 43% jump it saw after Trump took office.

"This latest wave of interest is clearly tied to tariff-related cost concerns, as business leaders brace for pricing volatility and its ripple effects across their supply chains and vendor contracts," SIB CEO Shannon Copeland told BI.

At KPMG, the firm's national operations lead, Paul Hencoski, told BI that it's normal to see an uptick in demand when there's a change of government, but that the rise had been "particularly acute" over the last six months. "We're seeing double-digit growth in our revenue and bookings in several sectors, and our pipeline is up year over year," Hencoski said.

Hencoski said he's seen strong demand for the lines of business that are most relevant to tariffs: KPMG's tax and trade practice, supply chain services, and risk and regulatory compliance. "Certainly, any type of economic downturn could affect us, but at the present time, we've seen no material impact," he said.

Businesses want to act now

Clients are largely turning to consulting firms for guidance on how to navigate the uncertainty expected in the near term.

BCG's clients want to "land the 2025 plane in a reasonable way," Lesser said. However, they're also mindful that this is just "one leg of a long-term journey."

While companies are focused on managing immediate disruptions — from supply chain shocks to shifts in the competitive landscape — many are also reassessing their longer-term strategies, including investment in capital and talent.

"Everybody's feeling like this is not a time to be making big investments when you don't know the environment you're operating within," Lesser said. "This starts with capital allocation but even extends to how much hiring to do in an uncertain landscape."

McKinsey's Levy said clients' big concern is staying competitive. "We're seeing companies focus not just on managing disruption, but also on where they can play offense — whether that's diversifying supply chains, moving faster than competitors, or spotting openings in a changing landscape."

PwC's tariff lead said there is demand from existing clients who already have sophisticated custom strategies, but need to work out how to adjust them for the shifting landscape.

Larger companies are concerned about their investment strategies, whether they can hire new people, their manufacturing footprint, and how they can expand operations.

PwC is also hearing from new businesses who weren't previously impacted by tariffs and lack "the muscle memory around how to be strategic in this space," she said.

Bohl said the impact of tariffs could be enough to wipe out smaller companies' ability to keep operating. She said they want to understand the impacts and work out potential strategies.

KPMG's Hencoski said his clients are "looking for calm in the storm."

The strongest demand is coming from the industrial manufacturing sector, where businesses need to find alternative sources for components and materials, and from the consumer retail sector, where it's all about the product supply chain, he said.

There is "absolutely a desire to take action now," Hencoski added.

"Their C-suite, their boards, their shareholders are demanding that they have a plan, and so they're actively digesting the information as it changes every single day and developing a plan of action at the same time," he said.

SIB's CEO also told BI that there is a sense of urgency from clients.

"We're seeing a definite shift toward immediate action. Most leaders recognize that waiting could leave them exposed — especially if vendors are already embedding tariff-related increases into contracts or invoices," Copeland said.

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