AISC has advised its membership of possible market impacts from any Section 232 tariffs of the Trade Expansion Act, and the news is being shared via media nationwide. American Metal Market reports that AISC was quick to caution that a 25% increase in steel prices would not equate to a 25% increase in the cost of steel building projects. In fact, an increase in steel prices, even of 25%, would likely end up as a total project cost hike of about 2%.
“First, the cost of material is just one of several components in the cost of a steel structure. And while percentages vary from project to project, even if the full impact of a 25% tariff on material cost was passed on to a project, it would likely impact the cost of the steel package by 5% to 10%, and the total project cost by less than 2%,” AISC wrote in a March 5 briefing for its members, which include structural and construction engineers as well as steel fabricators and mills.
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