Lighting Equipment Manufacturers NAICS 3351

Mar 31, 2025 - Lighting Manufacturers Brace for Tariffs

• The Trump administration’s tariff-based trade policies are prompting lighting manufacturers to reassess their production footprints, cope with reduced margins, increase prices, or all three, according to Inside Lighting. Lighting firms - including Acuity Brands, Signify, and Current - have long relied on factories in China and Mexico to keep costs down. Some firms have used the maquiladora model of bringing components from China to Mexico, assembling lighting products, and shipping them duty-free to the US. Tariffs are disrupting that business model. US-based firms may also see reduced demand as trading partners impose retaliatory levies on US goods, making US lighting equipment more expensive and less competitive. In response to US tariffs, Canada imposed a 25% tariff on $30 billion worth of US goods, including lighting products.
• The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) increased by 0.7% in February 2025 to 225.6 (2000=100), up from the revised January reading of 223.9. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which has been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. On a monthly basis, the commercial planning component improved by 3.3%, but institutional declined by 4.6%. Dodge’s associate director of forecasting, Sarah Martin, said, “Planning momentum moderated in February, after a few months of stronger growth. Data centers continue to prop up growth in the overall index. Without them, the DMI would have decreased by 2% this month. Increased uncertainty around material prices and fiscal policies may begin to weigh on planning decisions, but for the time being, planning activity is largely continuing to move forward.”

• Tariffs, deportations, and high interest rates are giving some homeowners second thoughts about new home improvement projects, according to the Financial Times. In January, pending home sales hit an all-time low, according to The National Association of Realtors. Pending home sales are an indicator of remodeling demand as homeowners often fix up homes before putting them on the market, and buyers make improvements before moving in. In a recent earnings call, Home Depot’s CEO said that while the US’s aging housing stock is supportive of home improvement spending, an uptick in 2025 isn’t a given. The Trump administration’s deportation activities may also contribute to workforce instability in the construction sector, which may give some homeowners pause about starting major improvement projects.
• Home builder confidence in the single-family market dropped in March 2025 amid mounting concerns about tariff threats, higher input costs, and economic uncertainty, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Home builder sentiment, as measured by the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), dropped three points to 39 in March from 42 the previous month. Any HMI reading over 50 indicates that more builders see conditions as good than poor. While builders still face headwinds, including high materials costs being made worse by trade strife and labor and lot shortages, the industry is encouraged by the Trump administration’s emphasis on reducing regulations.