After the election in the fall, all we seemed to hear about was tariffs: tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, increased tariffs on Chinese goods, and threats of tariffs with just about every other U.S. trading partner worldwide.
We should not be surprised that the Trump administration has prioritized fulfilling campaign promises by using tariffs as leverage to bargain for stricter cross-border control of illegal immigration and drugs and as a potential funding source for other priorities such as tax cuts. President Donald J. Trump returned to Washington with a more sophisticated understanding of how Washington works and has hit the ground running.
New Course
It is also interesting to note that traditionally, Republican presidents have supported free trade and global free markets. You will recall that during his first term, Trump diverged from this tradition and embraced a protectionist, America-first approach to trade by engaging in numerous administrative actions—with tariffs high on the list—to reshore jobs in the United States. It appears that Trump’s second administration is instituting even more rigorous trade and tariff restrictions.
Advocacy Efforts
The real question is how new tariffs or threats of new tariffs will affect the flexible packaging industry, U.S. jobs, the economy, and ultimately consumers. Only time will tell.
The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) is no stranger to trade and tariff wars. FPA was intimately involved in sounding the alarm on how the following unwarranted trade actions by the past two administrations on aluminum foil unfairly targeted the flexible packaging industry:
In 2017, the U.S. government imposed antidumping and countervailing (anti-subsidy) duties on aluminum products coming from China, including aluminum foil.
In 2018, another Trump administrative action was taken under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, and additional worldwide tariffs were imposed on aluminum products, including foil.
In 2022 under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Commerce “self-initiated” a case and determined that imports of aluminum foil from South Korea and Thailand were circumventing the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on aluminum foil from China.
President Donald J. Trump returned to Washington with a more sophisticated understanding of how Washington works and has hit the ground running.
Aluminum foil used for packaging provides barrier protection from oxygen, light, moisture, and bacteria that food, health and hygiene, and medical supplies require to ensure stable shelf life, freshness, and sterility. The production of thin-gauge aluminum foil, which is necessary for the manufacture of many food and medical industry packages, is extremely limited in the U.S., and accordingly, most of what is needed cannot be sourced domestically.
Regarding the aluminum foil duties and tariffs, FPA government affairs and representatives from converter member companies engaged in robust grassroots advocacy campaigns. The goal was to educate members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and their staff members and to seek support for FPA’s position that additional tariffs and duties on aluminum would increase supply chain disruptions and could result in a scarcity of food and beverage applications and medical device packaging.
FPA also engaged with its broad network of other trade groups and coalitions to advocate for fair trade and tariff policies to protect domestic manufacturing, including flexible packaging converting, and to encourage Congress to exercise oversight of administration trade actions.
For this Trump administration and the 119th Congress, FPA will continue to collaborate with these and other like-minded groups on behalf of the flexible packaging industry as the threats of broad-based or packaging-focused tariffs necessitate. Additionally, FPA will continue to track and alert member companies to trade or tariff actions of concern to our industry.
Please contact Dan Felton, FPA’s president and CEO, at dfelton@flexpack.org with questions and concerns or for more information on any trade or tariff actions by the Trump administration.