The U.S. concrete industry faces a number of critical questions as the year continues to screed itself along. How might tariffs affect the raw material costs? How might that affect projects? What strategies might contractors use to lessen the impact?
Concrete Contractor connected with Chris Fisher, head of the building and construction practice at global market research and strategy consulting firm Ducker Carlisle, to find some answers.
Concrete Contractor: How does Ducker Carlisle define "volatile raw materials"? What are some examples in the concrete industry?
Chris Fisher, Managing Principal - Head of Building and ConstructionDucker Carlisle
Concrete Contractor: How will volatile raw material costs and tariffs affect concrete construction projects?
Tariffs and related trade policies, including anti-dumping measures, will accelerate a shift toward domestically produced materials, which is likely to spur new investment in U.S. manufacturing capacity. That's the structural upside. The near-term challenge is a capacity gap: if residential, nonresidential, and infrastructure demand ramp simultaneously, regional bottlenecks and specialty product shortages could drive meaningful price increases before that new capacity comes online.
For concrete contractors, the most acute exposure will be in reinforcing steel, forming lumber, and any equipment with significant imported steel or iron content.
Concrete Contractor: What countries are expected to be the most impacted by tariffs on construction raw materials?
The tariff landscape is genuinely shifting, and definitive country-level exposure data requires real-time analysis we are actively working through. That said, directionally, China remains the primary focal point, particularly for steel, aluminum, and tool manufacturing. Canada is highly relevant to concrete contractors given its role as a major supplier of lumber used in concrete forming systems. Mexico factors in for aggregates, cement clinker, and certain admixture chemicals. As new tariff regimes take shape, supply chains that have historically relied on Southeast Asian sourcing for equipment components and fasteners are also coming under scrutiny.
Concrete Contractor: Which areas of concrete construction will be affected more by tariffs? Residential? Commercial? Decorative? Infrastructure?
The degree of tariff impact varies meaningfully by sector. Infrastructure is the most insulated; domestic content requirements embedded in federal funding programs like the IIJA already mandate US-sourced materials for most projects, which limits direct tariff exposure on the pricing side. However, supply availability could tighten if infrastructure competes simultaneously with surging residential and nonresidential demand for the same domestic materials.
Residential concrete work, particularly flatwork and decorative applications carries more exposure given higher reliance on lumber for forming and imported tooling.
Commercial projects fall somewhere in between, with risk concentrated in structural steel reinforcement and specialized equipment.
The good news for most concrete contractors: the core inputs, cement, aggregate, ready-mix, are predominantly locally sourced, which provides a natural buffer.
Concrete Contractor: How quickly / how soon will the effect of tariffs be felt by contractors?
At a broad market level, we are not yet observing significant tariff-driven disruption within concrete and infrastructure construction and that's an important distinction to make right now when there is a lot of noise in the market. Tariff effects typically transmit through a supply chain over two to four quarters, buffered by existing inventory, forward contracts, and competitive pricing pressure from suppliers trying to preserve volume.
That said, contractors working on projects starting bid processes today or in the next 90 days should begin pricing in tariff risk because by the time those jobs are awarded and materials are procured, the environment may look quite different. The offset factors are real, domestic manufacturing competition and supplier strategy can cushion some of the blow but that cushion is not unlimited.
Concrete Contractor: What size of contractor will be affected the most by construction material tariffs? Why?
The size of the contractor matters less than the sophistication of their procurement and risk management practices but size does correlate. Larger contractors generally have the capital and relationships to stockpile materials ahead of price moves, giving them a temporary buffer. However, that advantage reverses when they return to market to replenish.
Mid-size contractors are arguably the most exposed: they lack the purchasing scale of the national players but often carry fixed-price bid obligations that smaller firms can navigate through cost-plus arrangements.
Smaller contractors with disciplined quoting strategies and strong distributor relationships can actually weather tariff environments effectively, their flexibility is an asset if they use it proactively.
Concrete Contractor: What strategies can a concrete contractor develop to lessen the impact of tariffs?
Our core advice centers on three areas. First, deepen supplier relationships now. Contractors who have cultivated genuine partnerships with regional distributors and dealers will have access to better pricing intelligence, priority allocation, and in some cases forward-purchasing agreements that can lock in pre-tariff costs.
Second, modernize bidding and quoting practices: move away from fixed-price bids on long-lead projects in favor of cost-plus or materials escalation clauses that pass documented price increases through to owners.
Third, invest in visibility. Knowing your materials pipeline six to nine months out rather than two to four weeks transforms tariff exposure from a surprise into a managed variable.
We would also encourage contractors to engage their trade associations and monitor policy developments closely; the tariff environment is not static, and informed contractors will have a real competitive edge.
