Resin, Rubber & Fiber Manufacturers NAICS 3252

Apr 21, 2025 - Tariffs: Boon or Burden?

• While President Trump says tariffs will be a boon for American manufacturing, in the short term, at least, tariffs are making life harder for US manufacturers, the National Association of Manufacturers reports. The president of Ohio-based copper wire products maker Republic Wire told the Cincinnati Enquirer that while he understands what the administration is trying to achieve with tariffs, “Higher prices on materials could mean fewer construction projects, which could mean a slowdown for the industry, fewer jobs and a drag on the economy as a whole.” Chuck Daras, president and COO of Michigan automotive manufacturing firm AlphaUSA, wrote in an op-ed “The truth [about tariffs] is that the burden falls squarely on American manufacturers and, ultimately, the American consumer,” adding “If the tariffs remain in place long term, small manufacturers might not be able to hold out long enough to see their promised benefit.”
• President Trump has signed an executive order banning federal use of plastic straws saying they “don’t work,” the AP reported in February. The EO reverses federal purchasing policies that encourage paper straws and restrict plastic ones and directs federal agencies to stop buying paper straws “and otherwise ensure that paper straws are no longer provided within agency buildings.” Part of Trump’s executive order was aimed at reducing the price of paper straws, which can cost between five to 12 cents per unit compared to less than two cents per unit for plastic straws, according to Clean Water Action. Also, a White House Fact Sheet claims the use of paper straws carry health risks citing a study that found that while PFAS (aka forever chemicals) were found in paper straws, no measurable PFAS were found in plastic ones. Plastic straws are typically made from polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) plastics.

• The cost of rubber has soared to a 13-year high as extreme weather sharply reduced production in Asia, Reuters reported in November. A series of extreme weather events – including a prolonged drought followed by torrential downpours and a powerful typhoon – in regions that rely on rubber trees for rubber production slammed the industry this year. In September, Typhoon Yagi hit China's Hainan Province damaging almost 40,000 acres of rubber trees in the major source region of Hainan, according to Reuters. That represented about 2.1% of China's total rubber area. Extreme weather “fluctuations can drastically impact the tapping frequency of rubber trees and overall latex production," Farah Miller, the founder of Helixtap, a company that deals with rubber industry data, told Reuters. The price of rubber has risen 23.25% since the beginning of 2024, according to Trading Economics.
• Employment by resin, rubber, and fiber manufacturers was relatively unchanged year over year in January, up just 0.2%, while in February average wages at chemical manufacturers rose 4.1% to $31.43 per hour, down from a record high in January, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Quarterly sales for basic chemicals, resins, and synthetics companies dipped 0.7% in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago and were down 7.5% from Q3, per the latest Census Bureau data. Looking ahead, sales for the US resin and plastic manufacturers industry are forecast to grow at a 1.61% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to the Interindustry Economic Research Fund.