Of all the many sweeping changes Trump 2.0 has brought to the United States, the president's ambitious bid to ‘reshore’ manufacturing may be one of the most curious. With the uneven impact of tariffs and an emphasis on domestic production in full flow, it’s worth exploring the construction stocks that could benefit from the policy change.
It’s now been more than one year since Trump’s Liberation Day tariff announcement, which sent shockwaves throughout international supply chains. The move was part of a conscious effort to return to protectionism, but how is it going for construction firms?
With more US firms looking to embrace reshoring in the second Trump presidency, we’ve seen a significant increase in construction starts in 2025, with 10 projects exceeding $1 billion breaking ground in October last year alone.
Overall, starts grew 21.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.53 trillion in the first 10 months of 2025 alone.
Residential construction projects also supported an optimistic outlook for industry stocks, with spending on new single-family housing projects climbing 2.7% in March 2026 as part of a 1.7% increase in investment towards the sector.
Does this mean that construction stocks could be set for long-term growth on Wall Street? Let’s take a deeper look at the state of play for the industry and its key players:
The Rise of Reshoring
The term ‘reshoring’ refers to the strategic process of returning manufacturing and production of goods domestically. Given that the United States is the world’s largest importer of goods, Trump’s task to reshore supply chains would require a massive effort from construction firms to improve domestic infrastructure.
One of the challenges of using tariffs to encourage more firms to move away from importing goods is that the construction industry relies heavily on imports itself. According to GlobalData’s estimates for global construction output in 2025, its forecast of 2.3% was notably lower than its initial prediction of 2.8%, with the shortfall attributed to US tariff policies.
Tariffs play a key role in making the sourcing of building materials more expensive. Critical construction materials like aluminum and steel faced 25% tariffs as a result of Liberation Day. Additionally, Canadian softwood lumber imports into the US were subject to a 14.54% tariff.
Despite this, the challenge of reshoring has been smoothed out by emerging technologies that are helping to improve construction project management with the incorporation of AI and other tools that are centralizing processes for easier resource allocation.
Some of the construction stocks that have been faster to adopt these technologies to support their reshoring efforts are benefiting more from the opportunities presented by a shift to domestic production in the US.
Reshoring Stocks to Track
There are some stocks for investors to track if they’re looking to embrace the US reshoring phenomenon, and some key options include the following:
Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT)
One of Wall Street’s star performers in recent years, Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE: AIT) has grown almost 50% since Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs were announced, and the Ohio-based distributor of industrial machinery stands to become a key beneficiary if reshoring continues to kick into gear in the US.
For added diversification, AIT has facilities throughout several countries, including Canada and Mexico, and CEO Neil Schrimsher was quick to suggest that tariffs wouldn’t adversely impact the stock.
AIT is a low direct import stock, but it’s worth noting that dangers can emerge in the form of high interest rates, which could impact the company’s costs.
Caterpillar (CAT)
Another reshoring stock that’s flourished since April 2025 is Caterpillar, which has rallied more than 200% since the announcement of Liberation Day tariffs in an upward trend that’s shown little sign of slowing down.
Caterpillar is a globally renowned industrial giant that specializes in manufacturing equipment for construction and mining.
The prospect of a reversion to protectionism will mean significant demand for Caterpillar products, and the company’s intentions to sell in the same region it manufactures help to form a strong hedge against tariff costs.
In its Q1 2026 earnings report, Caterpillar stated that it expects AI-driven demand for data centers to triple its power generation equipment sales between 2024 and 2030.
Hubbell (HUBB)
The Connecticut-based manufacturer and distributor of electrical systems and products for industrial, utility, and telecommunications is set to see demand rise as data center construction projects continue to build momentum.
This stock will help to drive construction projects surrounding high-tech infrastructures long into the future, and HUBB is still more than 50% higher since the announcement of Liberation Day tariffs last year, despite taking a hit more recently as a result of investor profit-taking and valuation wariness.
Despite this, the stock could still be undervalued for investors who are bullish on the future potential of supporting data center construction, making it an option to track as more megaprojects get underway.
Cautious Optimism in Construction
The ambitious scale of Trump’s protectionist outlook for the US could help to create a new wave of growth throughout the construction sector, and for investors ready to buy into stocks that will support new data center projects and other high-tech initiatives, there could be plenty of long-term growth to tap into.
With the technology capable of supporting more successful construction projects also growing, industry stocks are showing plenty of potential in their ability to reshape manufacturing in the United States.
Although the unpredictability of tariffs will continue to loom over the sector, there are some opportunities to capitalize on amid America’s newfound emphasis on reshoring.
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