Trump Tariffs Spur Companies to Rewrite Commercial Contracts

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have companies scurrying to revise commercial contracts to mitigate the damage.

Force majeure and change-of-law clauses are among the measures companies are employing to avoid bearing the full brunt of 25% increases in the price of goods crossing the Canadian or Mexican border into the US, as well as reciprocal tariffs going the other way—depending on how they’re written.

Since taking office, Trump has expanded tariffs he imposed on China during his first term, and slapped imports from Canada and Mexico with a 25% tariff—though he’s postponed parts of those measures multiple times. He’s also threatening ...