Across the energy and industrial sectors, there are immediate and more residual — or unintended — impacts of newly implemented and planned U.S. tariffs. Below, we leverage the AlphaSense platform to explore these impacts across the automotive, agriculture, natural gas, and construction industries.
Automotive
On April 2, the Trump Administration formally imposed a 25% additional tariff on automotive imports, with the goal of fueling domestic manufacturing. However, experts believe this is likely to backfire due to heavy reliance on the global supply chain. U.S. automotive sector imports total nearly $200 billion — $135 billion in automobiles and $65 billion in auto parts.
Broker research from the AlphaSense platform suggests the tariffs could raise the average transaction price for vehicles in the United States by up to $5,100 per vehicle and trigger price inflation up to 11%.
An automotive industry expert believes tariffs could result in a zero-sum game globally, with consumers in different countries paying higher prices due to retaliatory tariffs. In addition, U.S. automotive OEMs could face potential demand erosion, margin contraction, and a slowdown in EV adoption.
Agriculture
The agriculture sector is likely to experience consequences as a result of new and planned tariffs. Following the White House’s enactment of a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports, China and Canada announced reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports. China announced tariffs totaling 84% on all U.S. products, and prior to that imposed 10% and 15% tariffs on chicken, wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products.
On April 3, the Canadian government announced a 25% tariff on $30 billion in goods imported from the U.S.— including peanut butter, coffee, and orange juice — as a “suite of countermeasures designed to compel the U.S. to remove tariffs.”
Analyst research from the AlphaSense platform highlights the trickle-down effect farmers are facing. With rising fertilizer and farm equipment prices, crop prices are likely to decline if retaliatory tariffs remain on course, and further jeopardize fertilizer and machinery affordability.
A chemical industry expert observed that price and volume pressure could affect farmers’ willingness to spend on treatments if there is a reduction in demand for products globally:
Natural Gas
The development of natural gas pipelines could be affected by tariffs as a result of increased construction costs. Tariffs on imported materials, such as steel, would directly increase the cost of pipeline projects and would significantly hinder a project’s feasibility, making pipeline development too expensive.
An energy expert believes tariffs could significantly derail future infrastructure projects:
Construction
Experts believe new tariffs will have negative implications for builders and the construction cycle, leading to costlier materials across the board for steel, aluminum, lumber, glass, and cement, and resulting in potential supply chain delays.
Equity research indicates that tariffs “threaten an already weak housing backdrop,” and builders’ pricing power has sharply deteriorated, creating additional risks from tariffs. The analyst also notes that U.S. residential construction relies heavily on China, Mexico, and Canada to import materials used in residential construction.
From a construction expert’s perspective:
Stay Ahead of Tariff Developments
With the constant shifts in tariff policy, it’s critical to rely on a tool that delivers all the most relevant insights to you in real time, while filtering out extraneous noise.
AlphaSense’s vast content universe spans company documents, analyst reports, expert interviews, and news outlets — giving you a full-picture view of the market landscape — and our advanced AI search technology accelerates and refines your search to give you the competitive edge. With real-time alerts, customizable dashboards and watchlists, and the most current content sources, you can stay ahead of all new tariff developments and build your strategy accordingly.
