Trump's trade war with China takes its toll on casino construction

In the mind’s eye, the glimmering casinos of the Las Vegas seem like the last places on earth that would be impacted by US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, but that’s not exactly the case.
Casino construction and remodeling, it turns out, is heavily reliant on steel beams. Most steel, it also turns out, comes from China and is exposed to tariff’s which drive up the cost of said steel beams. (Despite the President’s statements to the contrary, the cost of tariff’s is borne by consumers, not poured directly into US Government coffers.)
The impact of the trade war on casino construction in Las Vegas was the subject of a recent report in the Las Vegas Review Journal that zeroed in on a few specifics that the President is unlikely to mention.
The good news for casino construction projects is that some of them had enough advance warning that they were able to lock in pre-tariff prices on their steel orders. Those were the lucky ones and won’t see the costs of their projects rise by an additional 25%-30%.
Others, like Burke Construction Group President and CEO Kevin Burke are forced to live with the uncertainty of the economic capriciousness that is the hallmark of the Trump era. “It’s not only the tariffs, but it’s the threat of tariffs. If you’re a materials supplier … you’re going to base (your price) on what you know the costs are today, but you’ve got to hedge a little bit because if you guess wrong, it could substantially impact your business,” Burke said.
Those are chilling words, if you happen to be considering building a casino.