SALT LAKE CITY — A collective giggle erupted in a Salt Palace Convention Center conference room when the T-word made its first appearance at this year’s Outdoor Retailer.

That T-word? Tariffs.

Outdoor Retailer is back in Utah this week, and it was immediately clear from the first scheduled event on Tuesday that tariffs are the latest uncertainty looming over the outdoor recreation product trade industry. It follows other drastic challenges over the past few years, like new consumer habits, natural disasters and — of course — the supply chain.

“They’re the elephant that everybody has to deal with in the industry at this point,” said Sunny Stroeer, owner of Dreamland Safari Tours in Kanab and founder of the mountaineering adventure group AWExpeditions.

The outdoor industry supported about 5 million jobs in the U.S. alone two years ago, as well as $1.2 trillion in economic output and 2.3% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable. But the impact of tariffs — a tax on imported goods — remains unclear for the people who manufacture outdoor products and the people who sell them.

President Donald Trump raised tariffs for certain countries not long after taking office in January, and he imposed even more widespread tariffs as part of his “Liberation Day” plan unveiled in April. It featured a broad tariff of 10% for all countries, with even steeper tariffs on various items brought in from countries like China, Canada and Mexico in an attempt to handle the U.S.’s trade imbalance.

There have been pauses, court cases and trade negotiations since then, but some are still in place, and others are slated to take effect later this year, per the law firm Reed Smith and its “Tariff Tracker.”

It’s become a logistical challenge for manufacturers, many of which still rely on a global supply chain. One of the companies that Joleen Ong — senior director of brand and retailer membership at Cascale, formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition — works with relayed a story to her about how a truck carrying supplies from Mexico arrived in the U.S. hours before a tariff changed.

“If that truck driver had just stopped to get a coffee or take a break, they probably would have saved like $4 million,” she told an audience of growing companies gathered at Outdoor Retailer.

Some companies, she adds, have rushed to get products into the U.S. as soon as possible because they don’t want to deal with the possibility of tariffs being reinstated later this year. Others are concerned that additional tariffs could come down the road beyond what’s been introduced.

Many are trying to figure out what costs they can absorb and what costs end up going to the consumer, while many are also looking to see where they can be more efficient with their supply chain to avoid this dilemma.

In short, she says it’s become a “really big deal” because the potential tariffs are “quite sweeping” globally as compared to the past.

All of this comes as the supply chain has become decentralized over the past several decades, explains Jenni Staudacher, vice president of supply chain of Salomon, a French sports equipment manufacturer whose North American headquarters are located in Ogden.

That means goods might be stored, processed or transferred across different facilities to cut costs, increase flexibility or improve customer service. One problem with the tactic is that it also puts companies at risk when tariffs change the cost of shipping between facilities between countries.

What complicates this for outdoor retail companies is that they do source from many different countries. When pressed by a concerned business in the audience, she explained that the best approach to deal with the uncertainty is to review operational logistics and prepare for every possible outcome.

“When it comes to tariffs, we really don’t know what the future is going to hold,” she said.

This year’s Outdoor Retailer features about 300 brands from dozens of countries, many of which are displaying the latest and greatest versions of gear, materials, and ideas in outdoor recreation products. Executives at other companies described how they’re handling the situation, such as trying to stick to a strategy that works and ride through the uncertainty.

“Despite the industry going through the ups and downs, people are going to find a way to get outside,” said Peter Labore, CEO of winter sports gear retailer Christy Sports, pointing to a range of popular outdoor activities. “How we participate in that, how we help enable people (get outdoors), there’s a role for us. … It’ll work out. This too shall pass.”

Utilizing newer tools

While tariffs could be this year’s boogeyman, experts say artificial intelligence could be a major barrier-breaker in the industry. A panel discussion focused on how AI can help companies in many ways, ranging from operational efficiency to trimming advertising costs.

Content creation — another trendy subject — also shows little signs of stopping as businesses seek to woo customers.

For businesses like Park City’s Skullcandy, content creation now accounts for nearly a quarter of the sales budget. It uses tools like CreatorIQ to find the right people who might best amplify its products, said Evin Catlett, the company’s global vice president. It mirrors what other companies like Utah’s own Cotopaxi are doing to drum up an audience.

These types of trends, on top of the demand for outdoor recreation, are why Outdoor Retailer director Sean Smith remains optimistic about the trade industry despite its newest challenge.

“It’s always going to be something,” he said. “The recession is going to hit, there will be natural disasters — this industry is just resilient, and every brand that is still surviving today has been through it all.”