Tariffs are squeezing margins — here’s what to actually cut vs. hold on Amazon PPC

With tariffs hitting many import-reliant sellers at 30–60% cost increases, a lot of sellers are asking whether to cut Amazon PPC to offset the margin hit.

Quick answer: cut the right stuff, don’t cut everything.

**Why you can’t just “pause ads” to save margin:**

Amazon’s organic ranking uses recent sales velocity as a major input. When you run Sponsored Products that drive purchases, those sales count toward your rank. Pause them, and competitors who hold spend fill your page-one slots. Recovering that position later costs more in CPCs than holding it would have.

**What’s actually safe to cut right now:**

– Auto campaigns with >$20 spent and 0 conversions in the last 30 days

– Broad match keywords spending $30+/month below your target ACoS

– Any campaign running purely for “research” — pause the learning, run at $2/day

– Category-level branded campaigns you haven’t converted in 60+ days

**What to hold no matter what:**

– Exact match on keywords where you’re ranking top 3 organic + sponsored (pulling either one collapses the combined presence)

– Any campaign driving page-1 rank on your top-3 ASINs by revenue

– Sponsored Brand campaigns where organic rank is already established

**The better move on margins:**

If competitors import from the same origin, they’re facing the same tariff hit. A 10–15% price increase across the category may be fully supportable if everyone’s costs moved together.

Run the FBA Revenue Calculator on your top 10 ASINs with tariff-adjusted COGS. Some “margin-thin” products may no longer be viable — those are the ones to pull from PPC, not the borderline-profitable ones.