Rising Tariffs Hurting Your Print Business? Here’s How Automation Can Ease the Pressure

Summary: The Latest 2025 US tariffs have a significant impact on the print industry. With rising tariffs and tightening margins, print businesses face tough choices: absorb the cost or pass it on to customers. Print automation offers a way forward by streamlining workflows, cutting waste, and easing cost pressures during the tariff challenges.

Staggering 145% in China since the 9^th of April 2025. All these seem ok until we realize what things get more costly. The list includes paper, inks, blanks, apparel decorators, packaging materials, toner, print engines, and so on.

New tariffs and rising labor costs drive up expenses across the printing industry. When print costs rise unexpectedly due to tariffs, businesses need an alternative way to stay competitive while maintaining the high-quality standards print buyers expect.

Print automation has already taken center stage during such unprecedented times. Top print brands are heavily investing in automation-driven solutions that help them reduce overhead and human resources.

But before diving into print automation, let’s first understand the impact tariffs have on the global print business.

The Real Impact of Tariffs on Print Businesses: What the Numbers Reveal

As trade tensions rise, tariffs are hitting printing businesses where it hurts most—operating costs and profit margins. A recent PRINTING United Alliance survey shows 68.8% of companies expect tariffs to increase operating costs, with an average jump of 10.8% over just six months. At the same time, 62% foresee shrinking profit margins, and nearly a quarter (23.6%) believe this will limit their capital investment ability.

But the ripple effects don’t stop there. Almost half (49.3%) anticipate supply chain disruptions, forcing many to rethink sourcing strategies. More than a third expect slower sales or limited growth, while only a small fraction (15.4%) sees any upside in reduced foreign competition.

The takeaway?

Most of the printing businesses think the tariffs might give them a hard time one way or the other, and steps should be taken to mitigate the change and survive in the industry.

Tariffs are more than just a cost issue. They’re a strategic challenge. And for many print service providers, automation might be the key to staying resilient.

Print Automation: PSP’s Key to Making Things Work in the Tariff War

When prices rise globally, having more time to make precise business decisions is a boon.

Print companies dealing with strict pricing margins and slow-paying clients face tariffs and increased raw materials costs that negatively impact their financial stability. To address this, foolproof smart strategic measures like the automation of print operations have become necessary.

Let’s see how print automation can turn your tariff challenges into opportunities.

1. Cutting Costs Where It Counts

Automation streamlines every stage of the print process, helping you:

• Reduce labor dependency by automating file intake, preflighting, and approvals.
• Minimize errors and rework through integrated checks and real-time feedback.
• Accelerate turnaround times while keeping quality consistent.

It’s not just about doing things faster; it’s about doing them smarter, with less waste and more predictability.

2. Web-to-Print: A Sales Channel That Works While You Sleep

In an industry where every second counts, giving your customers a self-service platform can be a game-changer.

Wondering how?

A web-to-print solution helps both the print buyers and the sellers as it:

• Allows buyers to customize products and place orders online through a storefront.
• Automates print production workflow and order tracking.
• Supports B2B, B2C, resellers, and even franchisee models; all from one centralized platform.

This increases customer satisfaction and reduces the manual touchpoints in your print operation to ensure your team can focus on what really matters: Output and Quality.

3. Automation + Integrated Workflow = Operational Resilience

By connecting your MIS, CRM, and production systems, automation makes your business operations smooth. It makes your business run faster and efficiently. Integrating the right tools can get you:

• Full visibility from accepting the print order to delivery.
• Automated real-time status tracking for internal teams and customers.
• The ability to communicate with vendors and print buyers without contacting them manually.

4. Scale Smarter, Not Heavier

One of the biggest benefits of print automation is the ability to grow without growing your overhead. Want to:

• Launch new product lines?
• Open up new markets?
• Serve more print buyers with the same team?

Automation makes it possible—all while keeping your operations lean and controlled.

The Tariff Squeeze Is More Than Just Higher Prices

Tariffs don’t just inflate the cost of print goods—they disrupt the entire supply chain. From longer lead times to unpredictable pricing, many PSPs are forced to either absorb the additional costs or pass them on to already price-sensitive customers.

Neither option is sustainable.

Automation offers a third—and far more strategic—path forward.

Why OnPrintShop Is the Right Partner in a Tariff-Driven Market?In an industry under pressure from rising tariffs, OnPrintShop offers more than just web to print solution—it delivers a strategic edge. PSPs looking to expand can automate their entire order-to-delivery cycle with a unified platform built for B2B, B2C, resellers, and franchise models.OnPrintShop helps print businesses stay agile, cost-efficient, and scalable by reducing manual overhead, minimizing errors, and enabling self-service storefronts and intelligent workflows. Its robust integrations (300+ and growing), built-in CRM, and real-time job tracking ensure that every process is optimized—even in volatile economic conditions.Whether you're looking to reduce operational costs, improve turnaround times, or expand without adding headcount, OnPrintShop provides the tools, flexibility, and support to help you thrive. In uncertain times, it’s not just about surviving—it’s about choosing the right partner to help you grow stronger.