Caterpillar estimates up to $1.5B in tariff costs this year

IRVING, Texas — A North Texas-based construction and mining equipment manufacturer is expecting tariff costs of up to $1.5 billion this year, the company says. 

The projection comes as the company, Caterpillar, which is headquartered in Irving, reported this week that the its sales and revenues dipped 1% year-over-year to $16.6 billion. 

The company’s sales revenues are split into three segments: construction industries, resource industries and energy and transportation. The construction segment saw a 7% year-over-year drop in total sales in the second quarter of the year to $6.19 billion, and profits slump 29% to $1.24 billion. The resource industries segment saw total sales dip 4% year-over-year in the second quarter to $3.09 billion and profits drop 25% to $537 million. The energy and transportation segment, though, saw total sales increase 7% year-over-year to $7.84 billion in the second quarter, and profits rise 4% to $1.59 billion. 

“We continued to see strong orders across our segments as demand remains resilient, supported by infrastructure spending and growing energy needs,” Caterpillar CEO Joe Creed said in a statement. 

“Unfavorable manufacturing costs largely reflected the impact of higher tariffs,” a presentation from the company noted, though.

In March, the Trump administration announced tariffs on steel and aluminum, impacting a range of products from nuts and bolts to bulldozer parts, as Reuters reported. 

Overall, Caterpillar estimates 2025 net incremental tariff costs to be between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion, according to a presentation. 

“Impact of tariffs was around the top end of our estimated range for the quarter, and it’s likely to be a more significant headwind to profitability in the second half of 2025,” Creed said, as Reuters reported. 

Our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal report Caterpillar is the third-largest public company in North Texas by annual revenue and has more than 100,000 employees.