Trump’s Tariffs Drive Up the Cost of Public Works
Duties add about $1.3 million to the cost of steel for a Detroit river cleanup.
Construction of a wall along the Lower Rouge River’s Old Channel at the former Detroit Tar Plant.
Source: Honeywell
If Congress approves a national public-works program next year that Democratic and Republican leaders are proposing, President Donald Trump’s trade war could inflate the price tag, costing taxpayers and construction companies many millions of dollars.
A three-quarter-mile stretch of Detroit’s Lower Rouge River illustrates the problem. Known as the Old Channel, it was contaminated from decades of industrial-waste discharges. To clean the waterway, workers are installing a 2,500-foot-long, sheet-pile bulkhead wall to support the riverbanks. Once that’s built, polluted river sediment and debris will be removed starting early next year.