黑洞社区

New York construction professionals have sought to play down concerns of an immediate negative impact on the US economy from the election of Donald Trump as the country鈥檚 next president.

As protests against Trump鈥檚 (pictured) victory continued to grip major cities across the US, including New York, as 黑洞社区 went to press, New Yorkers working in construction said their sector at least was unlikely to feel a Trump effect for years to come.

Trump鈥檚 $1tn 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Infrastructure First鈥� spending plan got a cautious welcome, but concerns were raised about his protectionist economic and hardline immigration policies.

Adnan Malik, a British director who has worked for consultant Gleeds in New York for 14 years, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to see any of the impact of his policies until 2018 at the earliest. They have to go through the House and the Senate and won鈥檛 impact until much later.

鈥淭he Republicans may hold the Senate, but only with a slight margin [of eight over the Democrats]. And then there鈥檚 filibustering [where opponents can defeat legislation by talking it out]鈥�.

He added: 鈥淧eople may get concerned and may panic and that may impact, but as we saw with the US stock market 鈥� which crashed the morning after the election but has hit all-time highs since 鈥� people can overreact and then there can be a correction.鈥�

Malik鈥檚 US colleague, Dana Martinez, Gleeds vice-president in New York, welcomed Trump鈥檚 $1tn infrastructure spending plan, saying investment in roads, railways and airports was 鈥渂adly needed鈥�. But he raised concerns about other Trump policies, including the prospect of tariffs being slapped on imports. He said: 鈥淐heap steel from China is causing US steel mills to go under - but if tariffs come in, that could potentially stop construction work. If raw steel costs around $500 a tonne now and that goes up 50% over night it could have a drastic impact on construction.鈥�

Commenting on Trump鈥檚 planned immigration crackdown, Martinez said he believed it would focus on illegal rather than legal immigration, but this could affect Southern states 鈥渨here there are a lot more undocumented workers and it could have a big impact鈥�.

A New York construction professional at a different firm, who preferred to remain anonymous as the company counts property conglomerate the Trump Organisation as a client, argued he knew first hand that Trump (pictured) could be effective.

鈥淚鈥檝e worked with Donald on many projects,鈥� the source said. 鈥淗e knows his stuff professionally, from the technical to the financial end. He鈥檚 a very smart guy. He wouldn鈥檛 be able to develop what he did if he wasn鈥檛 a winner.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he is evil. Sure he鈥檚 not a perfect person. He鈥檚 driven to win. But in New York development circles nobody critiques him on a professional level.鈥�

What impact a Trump victory has on UK firms remains to be seen, although top of any worries is access to the market ahead of any Trump protectionism plans.

Before his election, Ann Bentley, global chairman of Rider Levett Bucknall said accessing the US job market is hard for overseas professionals: 鈥淭here are already quite significant trade barriers with the US. They protect their markets far more than we do.鈥�

The UK contracting sector鈥檚 exposure to the US market is limited these days. Out of the major listed contractors, according to Tony Williams of consultancy 黑洞社区 Value, only Balfour Beatty retains a significant exposure to the US market, while no UK housebuilders operate across the Atlantic.

But some significant consultants remain such as Gleeds and Atkins while architects working out there include Foster & Partners and Heatherwick Studio.

Will Waller, market intelligence lead at Arcadis, says: 鈥淕iven America鈥檚 significance to the UK as a trading partner and investor, UK construction will hope that any potential for protectionism or isolationism will be limited.鈥�