Sound Off: How will tariffs affect the market?

A: The president making good on his earlier promise to enact tariffs is having a rapid effect.

According to the most recent Business Insider data, thus far 20 percent tariffs have been enacted on washing machines, 30 percent on solar energy modules and 25 percent on steel. Some of the goods also affected are electrical equipment, machinery for metals and cement and construction vehicles. American steel and aluminum prices have increased drastically since the tariffs went into action.

Developers are reporting higher prices for metal goods in an already expensive Bay Area market to build. We have had fires in the North Bay that require rebuilding and ongoing office building construction along with several housing developments under construction. According to a March report from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation, we have a shortage of skilled construction workers due to high cost of wages. Many construction companies have quoted $500 per square foot for a high-end remodeling job in San Francisco in the past, but we are now seeing upward of $700 and more per square foot.

With the additional cost of tariffs in place (and more pending), I unfortunately see the cost of housing increasing even further.

Par Hanji, Paragon Real Estate Group, 415-307-5110,

par@parhanji.com. A: I was just finishing my undergraduate degree when I took Economics 101 on a lark.

The principles of real-life economics I learned then hold just as true today.

If consumers pay more for one item, they have less funds available for others.

We now have tariffs on the import of steel and aluminum, products used in real estate construction. As the cost of construction goes up, so does the cost of housing, whether it is buying or remodeling.

But it gets worse. Tariffs elicit trade wars, and we already have the first victims, U.S. farmers, who are projected to lose $11 billion this year.

So now for the first time since the Great Depression in 1929, U.S. farmers will receive at taxpayer expense a $12 billion bailout, timed to arrive just before the midterm elections.

Tariffs are a self-inflicted wound that will not make America great again, just more expensive.

Astrid Lacitis, Vanguard Properties,

415-860-0765, astrid@vanguardsf.com. A: Once upon a time, there was a beautiful stretch of land surrounding a large, diverse and prosperous bay. This idyllic area experienced some growing pains, but innovation allowed many to flourish. People enjoyed owning and improving homes and recognized them as strong investment vehicles.

This area of the bay had strong growth and the people saw “giving back” as a worthy endeavor. They also worked hard to preserve the environment for future generations.

One day, an unlikely emperor came to power and a lot of people were telling him things he believed were very unfair. He #tweeted to destroy everything his funders disliked.

When tariffs were levied, all throughout the land, higher costs were passed on to the people. When those fearing deportation fled, labor costs increased. Builders became shorthanded and steel, Sheetrock and other prices soared. Fires wreaked havoc and the short supply of homes got tighter. And the environment began to suffer …

Adam Gavzer, Compass, 415-505-0714, adam@gavzer.com.