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The Associated General Contractors of America has released a report documenting how U.S. contractors have been hit with a triple whammy under the Trump administration, with stepped-up immigration, trade tariffs and general policy uncertainty all buffeting the industry.

Aggressive immigration enforcement has thinned the labour pool, tariffs have driven up material costs and policy uncertainty has made planning difficult, leading to delayed or cancelled projects, the AGC/the National Center for ��������ion, Education and Research paper reports.

Immigration enforcement efforts have impacted nearly one-third of construction firms, according to the results of the survey. Workforce shortages are said to be the leading cause of project delays.

Twenty-eight per cent of respondents report their firm has been affected directly or indirectly by the intensified immigration enforcement. Ten per cent said workers left or failed to appear because of actual or feared immigration actions, and 20 per cent report subcontractors lost workers.

Georgia, Alabama hit

AGC chief economist Ken Simonson said during a media briefing Aug. 28 that some states were harder hit than others, with 75 per cent of Georgia firm reporting they’ve been affected. In Alabama, it was 46 per cent.

 As a result of the newer threats, the AGC said it has expanded its outreach beyond its existing labour force advocacy efforts to lobby the government for new, lawful ways for people to enter the country to work in the industry.

“As the survey results show, construction workforce shortages aren’t just a problem for the construction industry,” said Simonson. “��������ion projects of all types are being delayed because there aren’t enough qualified workers available for firms to hire.”

Steve Levy, COO for McCownGordon in Kansas City, said during the media call that managing and communicating the uncertainty arising from changing tariff and other policies has become a significant concern for his firm.

“What we’re trying to communicate to our different partners, there’s a cost involved that I don’t think anybody really takes into account,” he said. “The construction industry has always been averse to uncertainty, and that level of uncertainty that’s coming from the tariffs is a real challenge for us.”

The survey found tariffs are impacting on the way construction firms procure materials and how much they charge to build. Forty-one per cent of contractors report they have raised bid prices in response to actual or proposed tariffs during the past year.

Forty-five per cent of respondents report project delays due to shortages of their own, or subcontractors’, workers. Overall, 78 per cent of firms report experiencing at least one project that has been delayed during the past 12 months.

Adjusting schedules

Levy said project schedules are being adjusted to address shortages and high costs of materials and labour gaps.

“We’re lengthening portions of our schedule to accommodate some of the struggles that the trade partners have and looking at where we can speed up other parts,” he said.

The AGC report urged policy makers at every level of government to boost support for construction training programs.

“At the federal level, Congress and the Trump administration should at least double current funding levels for high school career and technical education programs,” the paper stated.

Simonson added, “The Trump administration should quickly resolve…disputes with major U.S. trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and China.

“Eliminating the threat of tariffs, eliminating market uncertainty, will help boost demand for many types of construction projects.”

One hoped-for outcome of the tariffs, Simonson said, is that manufacturers will adopt reshoring strategies or commit to new investments in manufacturing – but that is not yet taking place on a large scale.

“To build a new manufacturing plant requires a tremendous commitment, not just of dollars, but of planning and of faith,” he said.

AGC vice-president of public affairs Brian Turmail noted that the AGC’s government affairs team would be taking the results of the survey to Capitol Hill the first week of September, targeting the White House, Congress, the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security.

“We want to make sure that they are aware of those shortages and what impacts they can have on…the construction industry, and what steps they’re taking on enhancing immigration enforcement, one of them being that they are taking people out of the workforce at a time when contractors are trying to build,” he said.