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ARTICLE · 02 JANUARY 2025

The Ghosts Of Tariffs Past May Help Us In The Future

Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
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Peckar & Abramson, P.C.

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The havoc material tariffs have caused the construction industry is nothing new. President-Elect Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum in his first administration in 2016.

United StatesInternational Law
Kellie M. Ros
Kellie M. Ros

This article was written for ConsensusDocs and first appeared here.

The havoc material tariffs have caused the construction industry is nothing new. President-Elect Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum in his first administration in 2016. While the tariffs themselves were not wholly unexpected, the ripple effect of those tariffs (coupled with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic) caused unexpected challenges for the construction industry. Those included allocating the risk of the additional costs caused by tariffs, supply and demand issues, grappling with escalation clauses, and navigating fixed price projects. The industry must now utilize the lessons learned from the rear-view mirror to strategically prepare for what was promised to be a second round of tariffs come January 2025.

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