BIZ BUZZ: Upside from Trump tariff tantrum
It’s on a 90-day pause for now.
But with the barrage of reciprocal tariffs that US President Donald Trump threatens to impose on the rest of the world—which the Philippines may not be spared from —are we bound to see the spiraling of construction costs?
Not necessarily, the big bosses of two of the country’s largest construction firms told Biz Buzz.
“Most construction materials come from China,” DMCI Holdings chair and CEO Isidro Consunji said. “American tariffs should have no effect on us.”
Edgar Saavedra, cofounder, chair and president of Megawide Construction Corp., shares the same view. He even sees some upside from the US-China trade war.
“In fact, Chinese suppliers are becoming more aggressive in the Philippine market now, [whereas] we used to be the least prioritized,” Saavedra said.
Saavedra said steel, ore and coking coal, the main mineral components of construction, are “pretty much stable.”
Because the economy of China is weakening, he noted that their domestic demand is low.
As such, he expects no major inflation for steel. The same is the case with aluminum, he noted.
“For construction materials, since China’s economy is a bit soft—plus [there are] the restrictions on them to export to US and Europe, [sourcing] became favorable
to Philippines. We are able to get better prices than before.”
In the residential market, the large stock of unsold inventory should also temper property inflation.
For end-user homebuyers, that’s a bit of relief.
