Wiped out: US faces surging toilet paper prices amid trade war with Canada
Paper products among hardest-hit sectors after trade negotiations broke down, with 25-50% tariffs estimated Are you a Canadian boycotting US products? We’d like to hear from you Using the bathroom or having a cry is about to become more expensive for North Americans as the US and Canada enter a full-fledged trade war that threatens to flush away decades of peaceful trading between the two nations. After trade negotiations broke down between the two countries last weekend , Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, vowed to match US tariffs “dollar for dollar” and unveiled a list of nearly 900 American goods that will face 25% to 50% tariffs starting on 8 September. Paper products are among the hardest-hit sectors, with Canada threatening to put tariffs of between 25% and 50% on “toilet paper or face tissue stock” from 8 September in retaliation for a 50% hike from Washington DC. Though American toilet paper and tissues are often made domestically, they heavily rely on lumber-rich Canada for raw materials.
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The US imported $328m worth of toilet paper from Canada in 2024, according to the World Bank , making it by far the largest exporter of the product to the US. The US accounts for more than 20% of global tissue consumption despite having only 4% of the world’s population.
