A recent Equipment World online poll found potential rollbacks of environmental regulations could have the biggest impact on contractors’ businesses under the new Trump administration.
Out of 206 contractors, 36.4% identified rollbacks as having the largest impact, followed by 23.8% saying interest rate cuts would be the most important.
The chart below shows the results of the one-question poll:
Many contractors who responded to our online poll expressed support for a rollback of environmental regulations.Equipment World
Another 14.1% chose tariffs as a key business impact over the next four years, followed by 9.2% choosing stricter immigration policies and removal of EV mandates at 8.3%.
Other write-in answers from contractors included accelerated depreciation, more drilling for oil and gas, continuation of the Biden infrastructure program, cutting federal taxes on new vehicles and lower energy costs.
Rollbacks
Many contractors expressed support for a rollback of environmental regulations, with one contractor saying, “Although taking care of our environment should [be] considered, bureaucrats have had the ability [to] create high standards without considering the impact [or] even if they will achieve a measurable impact. I think we are spending far too much for little or no impact. Rolling back this regulation could only help the economy.”
Another said, “California has over-regulated the industry and caused financial hardships throughout the state. Removal of environmental mandates would allow businesses to be profitable again.”
And another contractor said, “Nobody thinks the EPA and OSHA are bad, but over the years their ever-increasing regulations have evolved from common sense to absurd.”
Immigration Policies
One contractor who said stricter immigration policies would impact them the most said it would "affect our labor force somewhat, although we do want people that work for us to be here legally, so we will adjust!”
Others said more immigration restrictions would be tough on their labor needs and increase labor costs, though some felt it would be good for the country and keep tradesmen’s wages from dropping.
Lower Interest Rates
Commenting on how lower interest rates would impact their businesses, one contractor said, “People will use home equity loans for renovations and additions. Likewise, more people will be able to afford to move up and want improvements.”
Another said, “If he can get interest rates down, it will get projects moving which should be greater than the impact of tariffs.”
Others said lower interest rates would bring in more work and drive them to update their equipment, make growth more affordable, increase consumer confidence and push private development.
Increased Tariffs
Several contractors expressed concern regarding rising tariffs, with one saying, “We demolish, not build, but this will make a construction industry that was slow due to high interest rates stay slow due to high materials costs.”
Another said, “It will increase prices across the board, decrease spending and foot traffic, increase hardship for the majority of Americans and put a lot of small-business owners out of business.”
Others pointed to negative impacts on the housing market, increased equipment and parts costs, higher job costs and making work less affordable to clients.
Fewer EV Regulations
Among contractors saying removal of EV mandates would have the largest impact on their business, several pointed to cost savings on more expensive electric equipment.
One New York contractor said, “NYS has mandated EV for schools and government contracts with no infrastructure in place and no plan to get there. Contractors cannot reasonably update their fleet with technologies that are not yet sound and infrastructure that does not exist.”
