Marketing and Advertising represents a complex indirect spend category with increasing tariff implications due to physical components, digital service taxes, and cross-border content regulations. This report analyzes the multi-faceted impacts across Marketing and Advertising subcategories, quantifies cost implications, and provides actionable mitigation strategies for procurement leaders.

Key Findings

• Physical marketing materials face tariffs of 10-46% (base 10% plus country-specific: China 36%) on imported items
• Digital Services Taxes of 5-15% apply to online advertising and marketing platforms in 32 countries
• Cross-border content regulations adding compliance costs of 8-20% in affected markets
• Estimated weighted average cost impact: 14.8% across total category spend
• 85% of agencies and vendors passing through increased costs with limited absorption
• Alternative digital and locally-sourced strategies can mitigate 25-35% of potential impact