A recent agreement did not address underlying trade issues between China and the US, but it did cancel "penalty tariffs" scheduled for December 15.

Paul Teller discussed President Trump’s China trade strategy during with distributors attending the annual HARDI Congressional Fly-In in Washington, D.C.

Some economists predict that the economy may slow a bit in 2019; however, manufacturers believe demand for HVAC equipment will remain high.

Looking back at 2018, there were several price increases that occurred across the industry, and there have already been quite a few this year as well.

Price increases are caused by numerous factors, including tariffs, tightness in supply chains, the cost of freight, shortage of drivers, constraint of product, the never-ending threat of interest rates, and more

This led to concerns that higher prices would cause customers to repair their systems, rather than replace them, and a second round of price increases from some OEMs later in the summer magnified that concern.

These actions have increased the prices of sheet metal and aluminum, among other items, and they seem to be having a trickle-down effect for commercial HVACR contractors.