Though Trump has paused the tariffs on most countries for 90 days, many facility managers are left with the uncertainty of what will happen if they are resume. Because of the complexity of global supply chains, and a host of other factors, most experts agree the tariffs will not lead to manufacturing jobs returning to the US. But that hasn’t stopped the administration from continuing to threaten to levy the tariffs, while escalating a trade war with China.
What will this mean for the cost of doing business for facility managers? Will the economy crash again and enter a recession? How much will materials, HVAC equipment, and plumbing and electrical equipment be marked up as a result of the tariffs? And how is it possible to set short- and long-term budgets with such volatility and uncertainty?
If your capital plan, for instance, has a new roof on the schedule for later this year, how do you know if your original budget, both material and labor, will even be remotely in the ballpark of the actual cost? How will this impact other aspects of your intended upgrades or preventive maintenance work for later this year and into 2026?
One piece of expert advice for trying to plan for cost volatility is to be sure to review priorities in your organization, both in terms of upcoming projects, and also for operating costs like frequency of preventive maintenance. Experts also suggest being as open and as communicative as possible both with the organization’s leadership, as well as facility occupants, about how cost volatility may affect ongoing operations.
Finally, there is no better time than now to implement energy-savings and other measures that reduce operating costs. When operating costs go down, volatility has less of an overall impact.
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine.
