289. Will Trump’s Tariffs Upend the Self-Storage Industry?
Self Storage Income
AJ Osborne
4.9 • 591 Ratings
🗓️ 25 March 2025
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trump’s tariffs are back, and they could send shockwaves through the self storage industry. With new tariffs on building materials, development costs are rising, demand is shifting, and investors need to prepare. Whether you’re a self storage owner, developer, or investor, these US tariffs could impact everything from occupancy to rental rates and long-term supply and demand.
At the time of this recording, Trump’s tariff policies remain in place, affecting trade with Mexico, Canada, and China. With uncertainty surrounding US tariff negotiations, how will these changes reshape the self storage industry? Will new restrictions drive rents up, slow development, or create unexpected opportunities?
We’re explaining the first, second, and third-order consequences of these tariffs, breaking down how they affect self storage investors at every level—from REITs to mom-and-pop operators. Plus, what lessons can we learn from previous tariffs and economic cycles, and how should you adjust your self storage investing strategy moving forward?
What you’ll learn in today’s show:
- How Trump’s tariffs could impact self storage development costs
- Why higher steel prices could slow new facilities and reduce supply
- How shifting trade relationships with Mexico, Canada, and China affect self storage industry players
- What happened in 2018’s US tariff cycle and what it means for today
- Whether storage rental demand will rise as new development projects stall (good news for owners?)
- Why you MUST update your underwriting/analysis for these new tariffs
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Why U.S. Debt is Everyone’s Problem (Including Yours) - https://youtu.be/DFDZwj64EeQ?si=9yppssHb01hhcWUr
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When we look at where these tariffs are hitting for us as a big deal. |
| 0:07.6 | That's a big first order consequence to us. |
| 0:10.4 | We have the next problem, which is the banks. |
| 0:14.3 | It is a compounding effect. |
| 0:16.1 | Uncertainty, increase in prices, lower rents, it shuts that down. This has long-term consequences and effects. |
| 0:24.0 | Some of them aren't bad. One of the things that this can really affect is the future demand for storage can really rise. |
| 0:34.1 | So the good side of it is if you own a storage facility, right, it can really slow down |
| 0:40.2 | that supply. I own a facility today, let's say, what are the top things I should be looking at |
| 0:46.9 | and planning for as an owner operator over the next 12 months if things stay as they are today? |
| 0:53.5 | Out of all the things we'll have |
| 0:56.1 | the largest impact on self-storage demand more than anything welcome |
| 1:07.2 | everybody to self-storage income and today we are talking tariffs and the effect that |
| 1:14.7 | tariffs and trade wars will have or could have on the self-storage industry. It's a big topic, man. |
| 1:21.9 | It's a big topic. And something that can and will and does impact every industry across the United States and potentially |
| 1:29.4 | around the world, from self-storage to banking, to cars and trucks, to technology, everything. |
| 1:35.6 | And in between, there's so much that we import. There's so much that we export. There's |
| 1:40.0 | huge relationships that we've got, obviously, with these countries around the world for all of |
| 1:44.6 | these goods and services that we rely on. So it's going to be interesting to dive into this and |
| 1:49.4 | see how we believe it is going to or is impacting the self-storage industry. So as of right now, |
| 1:56.3 | the situation, because it does change and it has been changing, but still the tariffs with Mexico |
| 2:03.3 | and Canada are on. Those are the 25%. There were some exceptions given tariffs on China. |
| 2:11.4 | Those are still there. So as of this recording, those tariffs are still in place. |
... |
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