“The current tariff situation is volatile and causing uncertainty, neither of which are helpful to any business regardless of location. It puts businesses into a reactionary mode versus being able to implement planned initiatives in a thoughtful manner,” said Margie Simmons, CEO of Landscape Forms, a site furnishing and outdoor lighting company based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Trump administration’s shifting tariff policies have increased concerns for landscape architecture product manufacturers and the landscape architects who specify their products.
“We are uncertain how the tariffs may impact our production and are concerned about what impacts a trade war with Canada, Mexico, and China may have on our global market and the general supply chain,” said Jamie McArdle, Business Developer with Victor Stanley, a site furnishing company headquartered in Dunkirk, Maryland.
“We have a subsidiary in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where approximately 50 percent of our material is produced. We also manufacture aluminum and steel products domestically, which are due to be hit with the material tariffs. We figure we’re poster children for being affected by the changes,” said Christopher Lyon, President, Tournesol Siteworks, a site furnishing, trellis, and custom fabrication company based in Union City, California.
In February, the Trump administration issued a 10 percent tariffs on all goods imported from China and later raised that to 20 percent. In March, Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere. And then also initiated an investigation into whether lumber, timber, and copper imports are a national security threat.
Since these actions, the European Union, China, and Canada have retaliated with tariffs of their own. Canada recently announced reciprocal tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum products and other goods, like tools and cast-iron products.
The Trump administration has stated these tariffs are just the start of an effort to recalibrate relationships with all trading partners. On April 2, new reciprocal tariffs will be announced on many more imported products and materials. Trump will give “trading partner countries a reciprocal tariff number that reflects their own rates, non-tariff trade barriers, currency practice, and other factors,” Reuters reports.
Adding to the uncertainty – one administration official said this number will start a period of negotiation between the U.S. and other countries on reducing mutual tariffs, while another stated that any negotiation needs to happen prior to the April 2 numbers release.
Amid this flux, landscape architecture product manufacturers are trying to gauge potential impacts on their supply chains.
“We estimate that a 25 percent tariff on products imported from Mexico would cost the company $10,000 per month. So yes, the cost concern and uncertainty associated with the tariffs is very, very high,” said Lyon.
“We can increase prices based on future orders, but we have a substantial number of orders already placed by contractors. These contractors have bid the project, and a change to them or to the owner is critically difficult. The tariff means that someone is going to have to pay – whether it’s us, the contractor, or the owner, who wasn’t expecting to pay.”
“Landscape Forms is already heavily invested in domestic materials, parts, and manufacturing as a significant part of our long-standing commitment to sustainability and to offer our North American customers high-quality outdoor solutions with lead times they can count on to maintain their project schedules,” Simmons said.
But “there are certain components and parts that simply are not readily available in North America, so the impact will be felt across entire industries that require those items, not just by Landscape Forms.”
McArdle noted that Victor Stanley uses “U.S. recycled steel local to our production facilities as our primary material. [But] we do have a few components, such as our more ornate castings, that are outsourced and may be imported.”
These manufacturers are also looking at the potential impacts on their customers abroad. “Tariffs within North America cause us greater concern as we have highly valued Canadian customers, partners, and team members,” Simmons said. “It’s a considerable part of our business that we have invested in for the past 20-plus years.”
Tariffs are expected to lead to significant changes in the market for U.S. produced materials and products. “If tariffs remain in place, I expect to see an increase in domestic material sourcing and product manufacturing,” said Gary Sorge, FASLA, vice president of landscape architecture at Stantec.
“I hope to see greater emphasis on recycling and upcycling, specifically the use of salvaged lumber, steel, concrete, and glass in the manufacturing of site amenities and building products. Local manufacturing and sourcing may become more cost competitive in comparison to tariff-laden imports. Local sourcing and reduction in transport distance may also reduce the carbon footprint of materials and products.”
But tariffs are still creating worries about increased costs and lead times. “Tariffs on steel and aluminum simply raise the price of all sources of material, domestic or otherwise. Domestic producers immediately raise their prices to the tariffed level. There is no difference in availability. Tariffs simply raise prices, period,” Lyon said.
“The needless stress of higher costs in an interconnected world is going to lead to fewer projects being done. Construction gets more expensive, owners are less likely to build, and invest in the kinds of projects we all like to be associated with.”
“I’ll defer to economists and financial analysts, but I expect everything to be more expensive, including labor. Increases may also impact the cost of construction equipment and replacement parts. This will increase the cost of all construction,” Sorge said.
“In terms of lead times, as designers we need to – and do – anticipate challenges and alert our clients accordingly. If a product has a lengthy lead time, we identify this during design and provide suitable alternatives. If we are not aware, project contractors will likely raise the issue during shop drawing and submittal review, and this could result in unwelcome and costly project delays.”
As demand for domestic products and materials increase, landscape architects and their clients may also see higher costs for sustainable domestic alternatives as well, complicating efforts to decarbonize projects.
Landscape Forms remains confident on that front for now. “We believe we can still prioritize more sustainable material attributes in the face of tariffs,” Simmons said.
Future trade investigations and potential reciprocal tariffs continue to add uncertainty. Many landscape architects specify trees and plants grown in Canada and wood and stone products sourced from Canada. And fabricated products cross the southern border during the manufacturing process. Other landscape architecture products and materials come from the European Union, China, and Southeast Asia. Costs and lead times may increase for a range of imported products.
Delays and cuts to landscape architecture projects funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act are another cause of worry. Combined with tariffs, “this could have serious implications for us and our industry as a whole,” McArdle said. Efforts to decarbonize the energy sector and industrial processes are also facing uncertainty.
Simmons said in “volatile and uncertain times, trust and communication” between landscape architects and product manufacturers is “even more vital to decision making on projects.”