Architectural & Structural Metals Mfrs NAICS 3323

Aug 18, 2025 - Construction Spending Declines

• Construction spending – a driver of demand for architectural/structural metals – totaled $2.14 trillion in June at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, down 0.4% from May and down 2.9% year over year, per the Census Bureau. Private residential construction fell 0.7% for the month and 6.2% YoY. Single-family homebuilding slid 1.8% and multifamily construction was flat over the same period. Private nonresidential construction spending fell 0.3% for the month and 4% YoY. Construction employment inched higher in July, after falling in a majority of states in June for the first time since April 2024, according to an Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Construction employment, seasonally adjusted, totaled about 8.3 million in July, a gain of 2,000 jobs from June and 96,000 compared to a year ago, according to AGC.
• President Trump in July announced new tariffs on copper imports, causing copper prices to soar to a new all-time high, The Wall Street Journal reports. Trump set an August 1 deadline for imposing a 50% tariff on copper – a key input in some architectural and structural metal products – joining steel and aluminum, which are subject to 50% levies. Copper shipments into the US are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks as companies scramble to get the metal into the country before the 50% tariff goes into effect, according to Reuters. With imports totaling 810,000 metric tons in 2024, the US is a net importer of refined copper, according to the US Geological Survey. Chile supplies 65% of US imports, followed by Canada (17%), and Mexico (9%). Refined copper accounted for 88% of all unmanufactured copper imports.

• On June 4, President Trump doubled tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%, driving up costs for producers who use the metals as an input. The metals tariffs as well as duties on softwood lumber and timber are slowing construction activity – a demand driver for architectural and structural metal products – and putting some construction projects on hold, Newsweek reports. And while the higher tariffs likely will provide a boost for US producers of steel and aluminum, for every steelworker in America there are about 80 people working for companies that use steel, including makers of architectural and structural metals who can expect their costs to rise. The exception to the higher tariff rate is the UK – a minor supplier of the metals to the US – where Trump has held the line at 25%.
• Producer prices for architectural and structural metals manufacturers hit a record high in June, rising 6.9% compared to a year ago, after posting a flat previous June-versus-June annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Tariffs on aluminum and steel, along with a more recent tariff on raw copper, have prompted producers to raise prices, while duties on foreign produced goods allow domestic producers to adjust their own prices. Employment by the industry grew 1.4% year over year in May, while average wages at architectural and structural metals manufacturers rose 4.6% over the same period to $27.01 per hour, down slightly from their peak in April, BLS data show.