Input prices for new nonresidential construction rose 0.4 percent in March, following upwardly revised gains of 0.6 percent in February and 0.8 percent in January, according to producer price index (PPI) data published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics and an analysis from Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The three-month change totaled 1.9 percent (an annualized rate of 7.9 percent), the most since March 2023.
Outsized one-month increases occurred in the PPIs for steel mill products (7.1 percent), aluminum mill shapes (5.1 percent), and lumber and plywood (2.7 percent). The PPI for new nonresidential building construction, a measure of prices that contractors say they would bid to erect a fixed set of buildings, rose 0.4 percent, following a decrease of 0.1 percent in February. Prices to calculate PPIs were collected around March 11, before most tariffs took effect.
Tariff rates continue to change abruptly and steeply. On April 9, President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause what he called “reciprocal” tariffs that he announced a week earlier, which took effect immediately on April 10. However, nearly all imports remain subject to 10 percent of what President Trump called “baseline” tariffs that took effect on April 5. Items from Mexico and Canada subject to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt from the 10 percent tariff. However, many autos and light trucks are subject to a 25 percent tariff. Imports from China are now subject to a 145 percent tariff. The 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum that took effect on March 12 affect the cost of many domestically produced construction materials, equipment, heavy trucks, and trailers.
For more information from AGC, visit the association’s Tariff Resource Center.
For more information about tariffs and the metal construction industry, read previous articles:
- Tariffs at Play as Construction Input Prices Rise 0.6 Percent in February
- Five Ways President Trump’s Policies Could Reshape the Construction Industry
- Steel Tariffs Fuel Price Surge; Construction Starts Decline
- Steel Prices Spike: 25 Percent Tariff Threatens Even More Increases
- How Contractors Can Plan for Impact of Steel, Aluminum Tariffs