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The Project Stress Index (PSI) composite closed November 2024 at 119.8, rising 14.7% from a revised October reading of 104.5. Sharp increases in on-hold (29.4%) and abandonment (31.9%) activity drove the month-over-month increase. The month's reading is a new high for the PSI following its August... View full entry
Proposed tariffs by the incoming Trump administration may increase the prices of many items at the store. But for architects and advocates working on more efficient and sustainable buildings, there’s fear that tariffs could impact specific materials and machines that are key to their work.
Higher costs from tariffs, some say, may slow down the pick up of these techniques of residential and commercial construction, and make such buildings more expensive and less attractive to build.
— Fast Company
Firms could be hard put to keep pace with the cost of procuring materials like mass timber and products such as heat pumps after the proposed blanket tariffs are enacted, explains FastCompany. This would add stress and uncertainty to the already lagging American building industry, which is... View full entry
The Biden administration issued another round of tariffs Friday on key industrial goods from Russia — including a 200% tariff on aluminum — as the country’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-year mark.
Aluminum tariffs were announced in addition to $2.7 billion in new duties on many metals and raw materials from the country. The tariff rates on most metals and metal products will double from 35% to 70% beginning April, and target “a crucial revenue generating sector of the Russian economy”
— Supply Chain Dive
Russia is behind China and India the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum and ranks fifth overall in terms of imports of the metal into the United States. Architects and builders have only recently come out from under 25% steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on certain countries by the... View full entry
President Joe Biden is using his executive powers Monday to boost the domestic production of solar panels and their parts and will issue a 24-month tariff exemption on imports of the products from several countries. The White House said Biden will authorize the use of the Defense Production Act to accelerate manufacturing of solar panels in the United States as a way to strengthen the administration's efforts to shift the country toward clean energy. — NBC News
Invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) allows the President to order private businesses to prioritize the production of materials deemed necessary for national defense. Aside from accelerating the domestic production of solar panels, Biden is using the Act to rapidly expand American... View full entry
The U.S. Commerce Department has released a report concluding that the United States must double its tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, raising the figure from 9% to 18%. As reported by Fortune, the increase would seek to combat alleged unfair Canadian trade practices, where lumber production is... View full entry
Imports of steel and aluminum into the United States have declined since the tariffs went into place, he said, but imports of products made with those metals had “significantly increased.” [...]
As a result, [President Trump] said, the United States will expand its tariffs to cover products made of steel and aluminum — like nails, tacks, staples, cables, certain types of wire, and bumpers and other parts for cars and tractors — as of Feb. 8.
— The New York Times
The New York Times reports that the cost of foreign-made steel products like nails, staples, and cables will go up next month as President Donald Trump moves to reconfigure his unsuccessful efforts to protect these industries from foreign competition. Up until now, the tariffs have applied to raw... View full entry
Potential carbon tariffs have been an active topic at the United Nations climate conference that wraps up this weekend in Madrid, where nearly 200 nations have been at odds over how to counter the continued global rise of greenhouse gas emissions. And some diplomats say it’s inevitable that governments will turn to trade barriers in the effort to fight climate change. — Politico
Politico reports that as international cooperation toward achieving global carbon reduction goals falters in the face of a climate change-denying American presidential administration, European countries are considering implementing carbon tariffs on imported goods to force a change. The... View full entry
In particular, the new numbers confirm that there is a major slowdown underway in the creation of jobs making things: manufacturing, mining and construction.
Those “goods-producing” sectors, as Labor Department classifications call them, added an average of 58,000 jobs a month in 2018. That is now down to 23,000 a month thus far in 2019 — and a mere 15,000 in July.
— The New York Times
The New York Times reports that as most economic figures remain steady, a look at some of the "fine print" of recent economic data might be cause for concern, particularly within the manufacturing and construction sectors, which are seeing lagging job growth. According to The New York... View full entry
According to The Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump is moving to escalate America's trade war with China by imposing new tariffs on all Chinese-made products imported into the country. Currently, the administration's tariff-loving trade policy has been limited mostly to... View full entry
Despite recent warnings from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of weakening billings numbers among architecture firms, the organization continues to forecast positive economic growth for the construction industry into 2020, with several caveats. According to AIA's Consensus... View full entry
The American Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has criticised the Trump Administration over the introduction of 25% tariffs on $50bn of Chinese imports.
Chinese goods affected include types of construction and agricultural equipment. [...]
Since Trump’s trade announcement on Friday, China has said it will impose a similar 25% tariff, also worth $50bn.
— globalconstructionreview.com
"We’re extremely disappointed with the Trump administration’s decision to move forward with these harmful tariffs," said Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater in a statement last Friday. "This move jeopardizes many of the 1.3 million good-paying manufacturing... View full entry
On March 8, 2018, President Trump signed an order to place a 25% and 10% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, respectively, effective March 23, 2018. The new tariff granted a temporary exemption to certain countries including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, and the... View full entry
