A 31-story mass timber skyscraper, which broke ground in Milwaukee last month, is taking steps to reduce its exposure to Trump's tariffs, which, once they come into effect, will hit materials entering the United States. That is according to Nate Helbach, founder and CEO of Neutral-the developer of The Edison and a 50-story timber skyscraper on an adjoining site-who said that under a worst-case scenario, tariffs could lead to a $4m increase in costs (or 2.4% across affected trades).
"In some cases, our strategic pursuit of strict sustainability design guidelines and certifications has implicitly helped," Mr Helbach said, adding that the vast majority of materials used in the build will come from US suppliers: "For example, our Neutral 1005 N Edison St project in Milwaukee is targeting Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification."
"This standard requires most materials to be sourced locally: at least 20% within 500 kilometres, another 30% within 1,000 kilometres, and an additional 25% within 5,000 kilometres. As a result, most of Neutral Edison's materials are already sourced from U.S.-based suppliers, limiting our exposure to international tariffs."
According to Mr Helbach, Neutral – which has three projects – in Milwaukee, Maidson and San Fransico under construction – has an active watch on mechanical systems, appliances, facade assemblies, mass timber and special interior finishes, which are all at greatest risk to tariffs: "For (these) projects still in planning or entering construction, we're actively exploring domestic alternatives and continuing risk assessments for any imported components," he said.
And when it comes to The Edison – which will use 100,000 cubic feet of lumber in 23-storys of mass timber over an 8-story post-tension concrete base – materials are not expected to arrive at US ports until Spring 2026. "With 13 months between now and the expected delivery window, there is still significant uncertainty regarding how trade negotiations will evolve."
"For example, during our recent webinar, Forest Economic Advisors suggested that mass timber may be exempt from new tariffs under the Trump administration's executive order on reciprocal tariffs. That said, policy continues to shift almost daily, and it remains challenging to accurately predict where things will stand a year from now."
Earlier this week, Wood Central reported that the United States mass timber industry was operating at 39% capacity (down from 47% last year), with significant capacity to ramp up production in the coming years – with new peices of legislation like the Mass Timber Federal Buildings 2025 Act helping to remove several barriers to market adoption.
