Edited 31 March, updated 5 April 2025
Trump’s tariffs could cause ‘unwinding’ of toilet paper supply, Bloomberg reports
Josh Fellman
The supply of toilet paper in the US could be ‘unwound’. President Donald Trump’s increase in tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber could have the unintended effect of disrupting production of this key bathroom product, Bloomberg News reports.
The Trump administration’s plans to increase tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber to 27 per cent – and possibly to more than 50 per cent thereafter – could hit the availability of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, or NBSK, a key ingredient in toilet paper and paper towels, according to the news agency said, citing industry participants and observers.
Import taxes on timber will eventually put some sawmills out of business, reducing the supply of wood chips to make pulp. This will result in temporary closures and less production of the ingredient, which, given the finely balanced nature of the market, could lead to pandemic-like shortages of finished products and possibly higher prices.
Trump plans to announce ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on foreign products on 2 April, when 25% delayed tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods are also due (track the duties). He has already announced 25% tariffs on all imported cars, trucks and auto parts, including those made by US companies in Canada.
Import taxes on Canadian softwood lumber, now 14%, are set to rise to nearly 27% this year. Tariffs of 25% on most Canadian products would increase duties to about 52% and a ‘national security’ investigation into lumber imports could further increase tariffs.
Replacing the approximately 2 million tonnes of pulp now imported from Canada will not be easy. Not only does it make up the bulk of US supply, but many US mills rely on individual Canadian pulp mills because their production processes are attuned to that specific pulp.
“They don’t buy our products for our good looks,” Frederic Verreault, vice-president of corporate affairs at Les Chantiers de Chibougamau, a Quebec wood processor, told Bloomberg. “They buy our products because they are the best and the most integrated in their factories.”
Trump is already taking countermeasures to the case he created by deforesting the US woods.
The lack of toilet paper will have as another effect increased inflation.
Read also : New York, storming supermarkets for foreign products. “Now prices will fly”
Below : photo and post about the lack of toilet paper during the Covid
