Construction Trend Tuesday covers one (hopefully) interesting industry trend in a quick, two-minute read. You can access the archive of CTT posts here.
Construction input prices, now up 11.2% year over year, are rising at the fastest pace in nearly four years.
Much of this acceleration is due to tariff-affected inputs like copper, steel, and aluminum.
To be clear, it’s not just tariffs at play here. For instance, Iran-conflict-related oil price escalation has put upward pressure on fuel and shipping prices, while mining disruptions have weighed on copper production.
But no doubt, tariffs are the biggest factor. The global price of iron ore is actually down about 6% over the past year, while domestic iron and steel prices are up more than 20%. As you can see below, the deviation between domestic and global prices began around the start of 2025.
Aluminum prices spiked immediately after the import tax was raised to 50% (and country-specific exemptions eliminated) in June 2025.
Eliminating the exemption on Canadian aluminum imports was particularly harmful because our northern neighbor “has supplied about 70% of U.S. aluminum imports in recent years.” Yes, expanded domestic production would be great, but we lack Canada’s abundant and cheap hydroelectric power and therefore can’t match their prices.
Big picture: tariffs are exacerbating the severe construction materials price escalation that has defined the 2020s. Industry input prices are up 57% since late 2020, nearly double the 29% economywide inflation over that six-year span.
What’s Next
On Thursday, we’ll have a piece out about energy prices and what they look like heading into winter.
After that, it’s Week in Review, our every-Friday post that covers all the economic news and data in a breezy, five minute read.
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