When nature calls, cleaning up is poised to get more expensive due to President Trump’s new 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods.
The levies, which took effect last weekend after trade talks collapsed, could hike toilet-paper makers’ fiber costs by as much as 11% — with the added costs hitting consumers over the next two or so months, an expert told The Post on Friday.
It comes down to manufacturers’ reliance on Canadian fiber, North Carolina State University prof Ronalds Gonzalez explained.
About 15% of the fiber used to make bath tissue is long fiber sourced from Canada or the northern US — with most of the material coming from Canuck country — said Gonzalez, who specializes in the economics and supply chains of pulp, paper and hygiene-tissue products.
With toilet paper relying on a combination of long and short fibers, the price of a ton of the raw material is likely to go up about $735 per ton, or around 11%, the expert said.
The tariffs’ potential impact is even greater for paper towels, which use more of the Canadian long fiber than toilet paper, according to Gonzalez. He said the cost of paper towels is likely to rise by 31%.
The prof cautioned that the higher manufacturing cost won’t necessarily translate into an equivalent jump in prices at the store.
“Let’s not talk about price. Let’s talk about cost, because the market in the US is highly competitive,” Gonzalez said.
Manufacturers could swallow some of the additional expense rather than pass it entirely on to shoppers, he added.
Gonzalez said consumers could begin feeling the effects within about two months because tissue manufacturers typically keep 45 to 60 days’ worth of inventory on hand.
Companies also have another option: replacing Canadian northern long fiber with long fiber produced from pine in the southeastern US, Gonzalez said.
The tradeoff could be quality.
“If a company wants to offset the price increase, they can just simply go to the local market in the US [and] get the fiber, but the performance will be not as great,” Gonzalez said.
That could mean toilet paper that “might not be that soft,” he added.
But if brands do decide to pass on all the costs of tariffed material onto consumers, that would put no small dent in their budgets.
A 12-pack of Charmin Ultra would reach about $14.50, up from around $12.99 now. A 12-pack of Brawny paper towels would come to roughly $26, compared to $19.97 today on Amazon.
The potential squeeze comes as Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada has swept up paper products alongside autos, dairy, liquor and other goods.
A 50% US tariff that took effect last Saturday covers Canadian “toilet or facial tissue stock” — large rolls and sheets that US converters can turn into finished consumer products.
Finished toilet paper itself is not subject to the new 50% tariff.
Instead, the levy covers toilet and facial tissue stock, towel and napkin stock and similar sanitary paper in large rolls or sheets.
That makes the tariff potentially painful for US companies importing Canadian parent rolls for conversion, while leaving domestic manufacturers and companies sourcing other materials less directly exposed to the levies.
The US makes the vast majority of its tissue domestically.
US tissue production stood near 7.8 million tons in 2025, according to data cited by the paper industry.
A broader measure of toilet, towel and tissue imports totaled roughly 929,000 tons in 2024, with Canada accounting for about 353,000 tons.
Canada nevertheless plays an important role in the cross-border paper trade.
The US imported about $140 million worth of the broader tissue-stock category from Canada in 2023, representing roughly a quarter of US imports, according to trade data.
Meanwhile, the US imported roughly $328 million worth of finished toilet paper from Canada in 2024, according to trade data cited by The Guardian.
Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs of 25% to 50% on US goods including toilet and facial tissue stock beginning Sept. 8, as the trade fight between the two countries intensifies.
The Post has sought comment from the White House.
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