President Trump on Thursday signed off on plans to study what he said were “fair and reciprocal” trade tariffs affecting all major countries that already tax U.S.-made goods.

A White House memorandum calls for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the former executive chairman of brokerage Newmark, and Trump trade representative Jamieson Greer to assess within 180 days, on a country-by-country basis, whether reciprocal tariff responses to U.S. trade partners are necessary. Russ Vought, the recently appointed head of the Office of Management and Budget, will submit a report within that time frame on the potential fiscal impacts of reciprocal tariffs.

Some analysts and corporate executives said this week that a series of recently enacted and pending tariffs, designed to narrow the nation’s trade deficit and protect U.S. industries, could also mean higher costs ahead for construction contractors, property developers and buyers, and general consumers.

The Trump administration this month enacted a new 10% tariff on goods from China, and a planned 25% tariff is pending on products from Canada and Mexico. Those tariffs alone could raise home construction costs by 4% to 6% over the next 12 months, data firm CoreLogic said in a Thursday report.

“These increases would be on top of annual increases in building materials, which typically track inflation,” CoreLogic researchers said. “That could mean that in the short term, builders could face up to a 10% increase in material prices.”

CoreLogic said prices for household fixtures like appliances, lighting and cabinetry could increase 10% to 20%, and potential new tariffs on Chinese steel could alter project budgets by double-digit percentages. “Putting aside the short-term sticker shock, in the long-term, even minor increases in construction costs put pressure on real estate project profitability, which could have cascading effects on housing affordability,” the report said.

Energy giant Chevron plans phased job reductions that could trim its global workforce by as much as 20% through the end of 2026, affecting as many as 9,000 employees. The company joins firms in several industries that continue to cut jobs and recalibrate work locations amid larger cost-reduction efforts in the early weeks of 2025.

Houston-based Chevron “is taking action to simplify our organizational structure, execute faster and more effectively, and position the company for stronger long-term competitiveness,” Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said in a company statement this week.

The company said shifts in services, technology and productivity will affect 15% to 20% of its global workforce, currently totaling about 45,000 employees across 51 countries, with most job cuts to be completed before the end of 2026. While not specifying locations, Nelson said Chevron is “changing how and where work is performed, including the expanded use of global centers.”

Analysts have said some planned shifts at Chevron are related to the company’s pending $53 billion acquisition of rival energy provider Hess Corp., which received its final regulatory approvals last month.

U.S.-based companies announced 49,795 job cuts in January, led by the technology industry at 7,488 cuts, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Energy firms announced 555 reductions during January, well below the 3,484 cuts in January 2024.

Annual U.S. producer price inflation reached 3.5% in January, up from 3.3% in December, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Also known as wholesale costs, producer costs include all expenses that companies incur in providing goods and services and often affect consumer prices. The government reported this week that annual consumer price inflation was 3% in January, up from 2.9% in December.

The latest data showed overall construction input costs, including building materials, fuel and support services, rose 1.3% on an annual basis in January. The Associated Builders and Contractors trade group noted construction firms faced annual price increases of 14.8% for crude petroleum, 13.7% for natural gas, 4.6% for brick and clay tile and 3.6% for concrete products.

“First, energy prices rose sharply. Second, producers often raise their prices at the start of the year,” trade group Chief Economist Anirban Basu said in a statement Thursday. “And third, many purchasers rushed to buy inputs before potential tariffs could go into effect, and that surge in demand pushed prices higher.”