Rivian’s Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough was interviewed on Monday ahead of her appearance at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Global Leveraged Finance Conference.
The executive is scheduled to participate in a panel on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
Ahead of the conference, the CFO was asked about the geopolitical impact of policies and conflicts on the auto industry and the company’s ongoing cost-control measures, as it approaches the launch of its mid-size SUV R2.
Speaking with CNBC, McDonough said it’s “too early” to assess the potential impact of rising oil and gas prices amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.
“I think it’s still too early to fully assess the impacts on the global supply chain,” the executive said, highlighting, however, that it’s “something we always carefully watch.”
The CFO noted that her team is “always monitoring for potential shocks in the system that could impact our broader supply base or bring inflation to some of our pricing as well.”
“But still too early at this point to say, obviously, the news is just a few days old,” she concluded.
McDonough’s remarks come as the automotive industry faces uncertainty since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began on February 28 triggered a near-total shutdown of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Vessel traffic through the strait fell by approximately 70% within hours of the initial strikes, according to data from Linerlytica.
The world’s four largest container shipping lines — Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC — have all issued formal suspensions of their transits.
Rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope adds approximately 10 to 14 days to transit times between Asia and Europe or the Americas, according to Automotive Logistics.
Rivian is better positioned than most to absorb near-term disruptions.
The EV maker manufactures all its vehicles at a single plant in Normal, Illinois, and Bloomberg reported last April that it had stockpiled lithium iron phosphate battery cells from China’s Gotion High-Tech and moved a large amount of Samsung SDI battery inventory from South Korea to the US ahead of tariffs.
The R2 will use LG Energy Solution cells initially sourced from Korea before shifting to a factory in Arizona.
As first reported by EV earlier this year, the LiDAR sensors for the R2 and other upcoming Rivian models will be supplied by the Chinese firm RoboSense.
Tariffs
Bloomberg also asked Rivian’s CFO how the company has been navigating US policy changes, including last April’s tariffs and the termination of the federal EV tax credit by the end of the third quarter.
According to Claire McDonough, “as you take a step back and look at the intention of the Inflation Reduction Act [IRA] credits associated with EVs, it was really to create pricing parity between a combustion engine vehicle and an EV.”
Therefore, bringing up a vehicle like R2, with a base price of $45,000, is one of the “key mitigating factors,” she pointed out.
Still, the outlet questioned the executive on how the company navigated tariffs and supply chain disruptions to lower prices to that level, despite challenges in recent months.
“We’re in an advantageous situation. 100% of our manufacturing is done in the US,” McDonough stated, “and the majority of our supply chain is domestic or USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] compliant as well.”
According to the chief of finance, Rivian is “certainly affected by tariffs, but at a much lesser degree than many of the other OEMs across the US.”
“We’ve been able to continue through a lot of commercial negotiations with the supply base, and engineering design efficiencies,” McDonough said.
Detroit automakers, including Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, rely on globally distributed production networks, with a strong concentration in North America.
In recent months, these companies have been shifting production to the United States in response to the impact of reciprocal tariffs and the 25% vehicle and auto parts duty imposed by the Trump Administration.
USMCA
The Trump Administration has imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico despite the United States-Mexico-Canada (free trade) Agreement (USMCA).
The deal is now being renegotiated; however, while trade negotiations between the US and Mexico are progressing, relations between the Trump Administration and Canada remain strained over the impact of tariffs and the China-Canada EV deal signed earlier this year.
Canadian parts that do not comply with the USMCA currently face a 50% tariff (including a 15% baseline duty and a 35% rate added last year) when imported to the US.
Canada has committed to maintaining 25% counter-tariffs on auto imports from the US, as it aims to “ensure a level playing field for Canadian automotive manufacturers in the domestic market.”
When asked about the renewal of the agreement, Trump said “there’s no real advantage to it — it’s irrelevant. Canada wants it. They need it.”
US and Canadian trade officials plan to meet “in a couple of weeks,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox Business Network last week.
