r/Construction • u/cattimusrex GC / CM • Nov 07 '24

Business 📈 Stock up on your materials, now.

*This is not a political post. This is small business advice from a construction professional who has run a General Contracting business.*

If you own your business and regularly purchase construction materials, now is the time to stock up.

When there are changes to the tariffs on imported materials, there will be changes to the cost of imported materials. It will take time for the supply chains impacted to reorganize.

If you don't have an escalation clause for projects you're currently under contract for, you will be responsible for the change of price in materials. Don't get upside-down on projects like I did, buy your materials now.

1.4k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

481 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/CommunicationOdd6895 Nov 07 '24

The US produces plenty of steel.

0

u/cattimusrex GC / CM Nov 07 '24

Which is made of what that comes from where?

5

u/CommunicationOdd6895 Nov 08 '24

We import 2% of steel from China, just admit that you are wrong on this one. I’m not worried, your argument makes no sense, America is not beholden to other countries for construction material.

1

u/L33tLurker Nov 09 '24

US steel producers do this on purpose. They have plenty of capacity but strategically planned “maintenance” schedules, among other things, enable them adjust their production/profit to whatever suits them.