Tech firms mull tools to mitigate tariff uncertainty
AI to play ‘very active’ role in equipment finance if prices rise
From risk management to aggregating data, tech providers are mulling how AI can help equipment financiers navigate the uncertainty and challenges of tariffs.
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation’s Monthly Confidence Index dropped last month to its lowest mark since July 2024, largely due to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, according to its March 20 report. In April, Trump has imposed a universal 10% tariff and increased the rate on Chinese imports to 145%. China retaliated today by raising levies on U.S. goods to 125% from 84%.
As uncertainty escalates, tech companies are cultivating strategies to help equipment lenders overcome short-term challenges. Aggregating as much relevant data as possible into a single AI tool is one solution, Scott Nelson, president and chief technology officer at St. Paul, Minn.-based Tamarack Technology, an equipment finance software provider, told Equipment Finance News.
“All of the tariffs and all of the assets affected are documented somewhere in the government records,” he said. However, “there is no one place where everything is together. … So, one area you could be using AI is to be scrubbing the tariffs and the asset lists to create a list of the assets that are most at risk — from an availability point of view and a price increase point of view.”
In addition to collecting industry data in real time, extracting data from previous global events that affected equipment supply chains, prices and financing is another effective strategy to navigate tariff uncertainty, Rohan Marfatia, chief executive of Newport Beach, Calif.-based DataCRaiM, told EFN. DataCRaiM integrates AI, data and CRM solutions into finance operations.
“You want to ensure that high-ticket items or items that are in high demand are not spending time sitting on the shelf somewhere,” he said. If disruption is expected “or the manufacturer is going to make some strategic decisions, that’s where you can use AI and ensure that, basically, the operational efficiency of their supply chain issues are mitigated.”
Credit decisions, portfolio management
After extensive data collection, equipment financiers can use AI to inform credit decisions and mitigate risks, Marfatia said. Risk management will be especially crucial if Trump’s tariffs cause inflation and affect credit quality, he said.
“With tariffs kicking in, more people will want financing, but it will be harder to get,” he said. “You want to do credit scoring, you want to kind of mitigate your risk. … So that’s where AI can play a very active role, and you can ensure that those who are deserving, those who have the credit worthiness, do get approved in spite of the tariffs at higher prices.”
Using AI to analyze fluctuating asset values can also help equipment lenders maintain the quality of their portfolios, Tamarack’s Nelson said.
“If I thought this uncertainty is going to continue, which it probably is, I’d probably be looking at both my funnel — do I have enough diversification in my funnel that no one tariff is going to collapse my origination stream? — and then I’d look at my portfolio and say, do I have assets that are going to become less value?”
Conversely, some assets could become more valuable if tariffs reduce their availability.
“If you’ve got a lot of leases on a bunch of trucks that are made in a highly tariffed country, well, the value of your portfolio has just gone up,” he said. “You then have demand at the end of the term.”
The third annual Equipment Finance Connect at the JW Marriott Nashville in Nashville, Tenn., on May 14-15, 2025, is the only event that brings together equipment dealers and lenders to share insights, attend discussions on crucial industry topics and network with peers. Learn more about the event and register here.
