How LBM Dealers and Construction Professionals Feel About Tariffs

In recent months, there has been a lot of talk about tariffs. As part of our ongoing survey of LBM Dealers (lumberyards and traditional one-step distributors) and the Pro Channel (builders and contractors), we added questions regarding tariffs.

Respondents from both surveys were posed the following question:

On a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning strongly disagree and 5 meaning strongly agree, to what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding tariffs?

Responses were collected from 200 LBM dealers from May to June 2025.

Here are the findings from the dealer survey:

Dealers appear most worried about the impact tariffs will have on price. Furthermore, over half of dealers (52%) have discussed tariffs with their product suppliers.

For builders and contractors, we also collected 200 responses from May to June 2025.

Over one-third (36%) of builders and contractors expect increased prices from tariffs. In addition, builders and contractors are concerned about the overall negative impact tariffs will have on their business (41%).

While both the dealer and pro channel audiences express concern about price increases due to tariffs, this concern is far more prominent among dealers. However, builders and contractors are far more concerned about the overall negative impact tariffs will have on their business. The audiences express similar sentiments toward tariffs resulting in longer lead times.