2025 was as advertised: the second Trump Administration introduced unprecedented uncertainty and disruption into the operations of organizations large and small across all sectors. And AI use just kept on expanding, bringing its own uncertainty and potential for disruption. Legal and compliance experts help CCI dig into what made news in governance, risk and compliance professions this year and what we can expect in 2026.
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Tariffs spark massive economic instability and shake up risk landscape
The Trump Administration’s sweeping tariffs, which Thad McBride of law firm Bass, Berry & Sims called the word of the year, reshaped the entire corporate landscape in 2025, creating ripples that extended far beyond the loading dock into boardrooms, accounting departments and risk management frameworks.
Tariffs imposed this year amounted to an average tax increase of $1,200 per US household, while federal tariff revenue surged to $195 billion in fiscal year 2025, more than 250% of what was collected in 2024. But the national financial impact told only part of the story.
Companies scrambled to adapt their supply chains, with legal and compliance teams thrust into unfamiliar territory as they worked alongside CFOs and logistics officers to assess exposure, evaluate sourcing alternatives and…
