AGC of America Tariffs Update

May 31, 2018 - AGC of America

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs for Canada, Mexico and the European Union effective tomorrow, June 1. These countries were previously spared from the March 23 imposed 25 percent tariff on imported steel and 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum. At least 30 percent of imported steel came from these nations in 2017. As a result, contractors may expect further increases in domestic steel prices and mill delivery delays that could increase their construction costs and delay project delivery. These countries are expected to subject U.S. goods to trade retaliation.
 
AGC members are encouraged to contact the President and Congress to note their opposition to these tariffs and their negative impact on the construction marketplace. You can find a steel and aluminum action alert here-  https://advocacy.agc.org/action-alerts/.
 
In addition, AGC has put together a number of tariffs educational resources for members, which you can find embedded links and attached. Those resources include:

• A Primer on 2018 Trade Actions Affecting the Construction Industry
• An AGC Tariff Memo for Private Contractors (re price escalation clauses, so forth)
• An AGC Tariff Memo for Federal and Federal-Aid Contractors (re price escalation clauses, so forth)
• A ConstructorCast podcast on steel and aluminum tariffs

AGC continues to advocate for members before the Administration and Congress:

• AGC urged the president to take a more calculated trade response on steel and aluminum tariffs
• AGC noted its concerns in response to a House Ways and Means hearing on the topic of tariffs (Download here)
• AGC submitted comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative about its concerns with Chinese construction products and materials being subject to tariffs aimed at Chinese efforts to undermine American intellectual property rights, innovation or technology.
• AGC remains engaged through multi-industry coalition efforts

In addition, AGC continues to generate media coverage on the impacts of the tariffs on the construction industry. We will continue to provide more details as they become available.
 
Contact:
Jimmy Christianson
Vice President, Government Relations
Associated General Contractors of America
703-837-5325 (office)