Tariffs Are Back in Focus: 3 Stocks With a Home-Field Advantage

Key Points

• Tariffs can create challenges for companies reliant on imports, but they can also give domestically focused businesses a competitive advantage.
• Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs stand to benefit from protections surrounding U.S. steel production, while both companies offer different risk-reward profiles.
• PACCAR combines growing truck demand with a North American manufacturing footprint that could benefit from policies favoring domestic production.

Tariffs are dominating the headlines again, and that means more rhetoric about inflation, supply chain disruptions, and margin compressions. All of that can be bearish for some stocks.

The keyword is "some."

Many investors know that tariffs create winners and losers, and the winners aren't hard to find. Right now, that means looking at key U.S. stocks in industries that could gain structural advantages from the current tariff policy.

Because many of these new tariffs were imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, they are more likely to survive judicial scrutiny. That may be a different story under a new administration in 2029. However, tariffs are undeniably generating revenue for the U.S. Treasury, which could make reversing them difficult, impractical, or unpopular.

Rather than spending time trying to swim against the current of the administration's tariff policy, investing in these three stocks offers a way to ride the tailwind being created.

Nucor: The Domestic Steel Bellwether With More Upside

United States steel manufacturers have been one of the biggest and most obvious beneficiaries of a tariff policy that is focused on making domestic steel more attractive to U.S. companies. Nucor NYSE: NUE stock is up over 50% in 2026.

Revenue and earnings have posted strong year-over-year gains as the infrastructure trade begins to heat up. This isn't just about data centers. Traditional infrastructure needs are boosting demand for steel as well. Plus, Nucor's electric-arc-furnace model means it competes almost entirely on American soil against tariff-burdened imports.

The stock got a recent bump after trade discussions between the U.S. and Canada broke down. Prior to that, NUE had moved off its all-time high on concerns that domestic steel would lose its competitive advantage.

In an environment where the outlook can change on a single headline, investors should expect more volatility. However, Nucor offsets some of that volatility with its status as a Dividend King. The company has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years. That comes along with a consensus price target of $272.38. That would be a gain of about 10%, but many analysts have raised their price targets beyond the consensus level.

Cleveland-Cliffs: May Have an Underappreciated Automotive Tailwind

Cleveland-Cliffs NYSE: CLF is another U.S. steel name for investors to consider. The company is more leveraged than Nucor. That shows up in the CLF price, which is down over 14% in 2026 as of this writing. Revenue growth has been tepid, and the company remains unprofitable.

But there are two sides to that story, as illustrated by the company's August 2026 announcement of a $1 billion investment in its Middletown Works facility in Ohio. However, about 50% of that modernization project is being supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The efficiencies that can come from that buildout will take years to be realized. Still, Cleveland-Cliffs stands out due to its heavy exposure to the auto industry.

Skeptics will note that the auto industry could be tough, given the state of consumers. But that's not showing up in the current numbers, and automakers are becoming increasingly incentivized to source steel domestically to keep production costs down.

Admittedly, this may not be as clean a bet on steel as Nucor. But in terms of asymmetric upside potential, CLF is a name to keep on a watch list.

PACCAR: An Example of Why Made in America Plays Well

PACCAR NASDAQ: PCAR may not be a familiar name for many investors. But PCAR is up 18% in 2026; it has a dividend that has grown for five consecutive years, and it trades at around 22x forward earnings.

The broader story here is the made-in-America trade. The company designs and manufactures commercial vehicles under the Kenworth and Peterbilt brand names. A new 50% tariff on those trucks (effective Jan. 1, 2027) will give PACCAR a pricing and market-share advantage over European competitors.

This is starting to show up in revenue, which the company expects to increase in 2027 as fleets replace aging equipment. PACCAR's earnings are expected to grow about 20% in the next 12 months, which doesn't appear to be priced into the stock since the announcement of this new tariff.

One reason for investors to look closely at PCAR is the strong institutional buying in Q2. That kind of activity suggests that the bigger-money players want to get ahead of the Jan. 1 tariff, which falls just a few days after PACCAR is expected to report earnings on Oct. 27.

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