For many executives, tracking the potential business impact of the more than 40 executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in his first week in office has felt like drinking from a fire hose—except when it comes to tariffs.

Those expecting Trump to immediately impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China were disappointed. Instead, executives worried about tariffs were left parsing Trump's remarks while signing executive orders about his plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico on February 1imposing tariffs.

Amid ongoing uncertainty, Andrew Siciliano, leader of KPMG's U.S. national trade and customs practice, noted that CFOs and financial leaders should still take several steps to prepare for expected tariff policy changes.

"Until the rules come out, it's hard to pinpoint financial exposure, but I think companies should consider best- and worst-case scenarios," Siciliano said in an interview. "If tariffs are imposed on goods from Mexico and Canada, companies still need to determine their financial exposure."

Here are five ways CFOs can prepare for potential rules.

1. Start with worst-case exposure: He advised gathering historical and projected data on the volume of goods from countries that could face tariffs. Then, determine the financial exposure if a 25% tariff were applied to the full value of finished goods. "That's your worst-case scenario," he said.

2. Consider the country of origin: Siciliano said that often, the origin of a product's components determines where tariffs apply, not the country shipping to the U.S. "The country of origin usually prevails," he said. For example, if a product is assembled in Mexico but components come from other countries, then only Mexican components and assembly costs might be affected by new tariffs targeting Mexico. Therefore, CFOs need to review their supply chains, analyzing deeply the origin of goods and their processing in Mexico until they enter the U.S. "All these factors need to be considered," he said. "You don't want to pay a 25% tariff on content that may come from other countries and not be subject to tariffs."

3. Accelerate imports from tariff-targeted countries: Many companies are shipping goods into the U.S. early, warehousing them for later use ahead of expected tariffs. Costco Wholesale CFO Gary Millerchip endorsed this plan, saying on a December earnings call that the company would considerpurchasing inventory earlyand consider alternative product sources, as CFO Dive previously reported.

4. Explore tariff recovery strategies: If you import goods from Mexico and then ship them to other countries like the U.K., you can recover tariffs paid. He noted that during previous China tariffs, tech companies applied for tariff refunds, recovering nearly all tariffs if they exported goods to other countries.

5. Stay tuned to the news: Keep up with tariff developments by watching the news, following LinkedIn updates, and tracking industry associations and government websites.