By Vipal Monga

Tariffs on Canada could crimp supplies of polyethylene, a plastic used for packaging, said Al Greenwood, a chemicals specialist at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. Much of the plastic used in the U.S. Midwest comes from Canadian sources, he said. While the U.S. has enough manufacturing capacity to replace the roughly 2.5 million metric tons of the material, used in products such as plastic film and milk jugs from Canada, it won't be a quick fix.

Companies looking for plastic will end up in a scramble for new suppliers, most of which are based near the Gulf Coast, he said. Those suppliers will then be competing to find limited cargo space to ship the cargo to the Midwest. This will add more pressure on makers of furniture and automobiles, among other sectors, he said. "This will slow things down and increase costs in markets that are already struggling," he said.

This item is part of a Wall Street Journal live coverage event. The full stream can be found by searching P/WSJL (WSJ Live Coverage).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2025 21:04 ET (02:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.