Imbalances yet to surface in Trump’s US economy
ICR took a moment to talk to Ed Sullivan, Portland Cement Association’s vice president and chief economist of Market Intelligence, to understand more about how the US economy is faring and what factors might yet cause a brake on cement demand going forward.
Figure 1: impact of different outcomes of the tariff issue on the economy and cement sector
ICR: What is the current PCA forecast for economic growth in the USA in 2018-19?
Ed Sullivan (ES): Good, very good. We are well into 2018 and creating 200,000 net new jobs a month. Consumers are very robust, and we are seeing strong consumer and business sentiment as well as extra [corporate tax] reform that is going to supplement the momentum we have. So, we are looking at GDP growth of close to 2.9 per cent with many people expecting this to surpass the three per cent mark.
