AISC advises members on impact of Section 232 tariffs

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), a trade association for structural steel based in New York, has advised its membership of possible market impacts from the Section 232 tariffs ordered by President Trump.

“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 percent tariff on material cost was passed on to a project, it would likely impact the cost of the steel package by 5 to 10 percent, and the total project cost by less than 2 percent,” the AISC wrote in a briefing for its members, which include structural and construction engineers, as well as steel fabricators and mills.

“Whatever percentage of a tariff-based cost increase is passed on to the market will be determined by the market itself,” the AISC wrote.

Just as importantly, any steel tariff will likely affect rebar, a competing construction product to steel beams, the AISC noted.

It is “important to put any discussion of construction material costs in context, as the factors that affect costs have never been static,” the group noted. “The actual impact of a tariff will need to be evaluated against overall market factors, just like any other volatility in material costs …. The cost of steel construction is responsive to market forces, and the structural steel industry operates in a competitive environment.”