Page 48 - Plastics News March 2025
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
So far, the blanket import tariffs on Canada, The fact the tariffs are coming on the heels of
Mexico and China appear to be the only meas- major pressures like high inflation and elevated
ures directly affecting recycled commodities: interest rates is leading some businesses to an-
The retaliatory actions by Canada and China ticipate a muted impact, other than costs being
have targeted specific commodity types, like higher. For example, equipment supplier Kadant,
food and agricultural goods. But the more trade which outfits paper mills and other industrial fa-
barriers go up, the more likely that U.S. exports cilities, has seen slower sales activity for the last
of recycled commodities get caught up in the few years. Company leaders say customers are
fray, as they did during the U.S.-China trade war likely waiting for some stability.
of 2018 and 2019.
But “you can’t delay investing in your business
The new trade acrimony in North America un- forever,” CEO Jeff Powell said on Feb. 13. “At
does some key provisions of the U.S.-Mexico- some point, we know we’ve been in this down
Canada Agreement, the free trade agreement cycle for two years now on the capital side, and
negotiated during the first Trump term. The history tells us that essentially another buying
agreement, which was strongly supported by cycle is going to occur.”
ReMA, established tariff schedules that set du-
ties for almost all goods, including recycled com- That attitude, and its “wait-and-see” relatives,
modities, at 0% for all three countries. has come up on numerous company earnings
reports of late. In some cases, company repre-
“Broadly speaking, these tariffs will go fully sentatives voice that things are changing, being
against the USMCA,” Shaffer said. announced and canceled, too rapidly to make
educated forecasts. Mill operator Cascades, for
Companies weigh in
example, recently declined to provide a detailed
Some companies, including major material haul- financial forecast for the year, citing the high lev-
ers, are taking a tempered view of the tariffs, el of uncertainty.
especially given the amount of macroeconomic “Nobody can predict what’s going to happen
turmoil that has accompanied the past five years.
with tariffs,” said Gary Nagle, CEO of Glencore, a
“Listen, we’ve lived through a pandemic and Canadian smelter operator and major consumer
high inflation and war at the shore of Europe and of circuit boards from e-scrap. “Nobody knows.
other elements,” said Jon Vander Ark, CEO of You wake up tomorrow morning, there is a tar-
hauler Republic Services, in a call with investors iff, there isn’t a tariff. Is it 10%? Is it 60%? Who
on Feb. 13. “So a macro slowdown in the econ- knows?”
omy, what happens with tariffs and impact on Source – Plastics Recycling Update
inflation, none of those things I would say keep
us up at night.”
48 PLASTICS NEWS March 2025
