Soap & Toilet Preparation Manufacturers NAICS 3256

Jul 27, 2025 - P&G Cutting Jobs

• President Trump’s trade war is taking a toll on the world’s largest consumer products company Proctor & Gamble, which announced in June that it would cut 7,000 jobs globally over the next two years, or 15% of its total nonmanufacturing workforce. P&G, which makes Tide detergent and Pantene shampoo, has seen demand for its products sag amid consumer uncertainty after the administration announced tariffs on the US’s top trading partners. In April, P&G said it would raise prices on some products and in May lowered its sales and profit guidance for 2025. While about 90% of what P&G sells is produced in the US, it imports raw ingredients, packaging materials, and some finished products from China. Its rival Unilever, maker of Dove soap, said in March that it had made 6,000 job cuts under a plan to reduce its workforce by 7,500.
• Makers of household and health and beauty products are facing increasing competition from private label brands, Chain Store Age reports. As retail prices remain high, consumers are gravitating toward private-label products, according to the latest Private Label Trends report from Numerator. Across 10 major product sectors, private-label products accounted for nearly a quarter of unit volume (24%). Sectors with the highest percentage of US households buying private label brand products include health & beauty (99.2%) and household products (98.9%). Aldi and Trader Joe’s rely most heavily on private brands, accounting for 76% and 75%, respectively, of their overall sales volume, while Sam’s Club, Costco, and Walmart see more than a quarter of their overall sales volume coming from private-labels. Numerator found that 41% of surveyed consumers purchase private label items to save money and 25% think they’re as good as name brands.

• President Trump’s threat to impose sweeping tariffs on imports from Mexico and China poses challenges for global supply chains. During his campaign, Trump proposed tariffs ranging from 10-20% on all imports, and up to 100% for Chinese goods, sparking concerns among businesses and trade groups about inflationary impacts and market disruptions. Mexico is a critical hub in the supply chains of several consumer goods giants, including Procter & Gamble and Unilever, reports Mexico Business News. In the third quarter, roughly 10% of P&G’s US-bound shipments came from Mexico, according to ImportYeti, while Unilever’s sea imports from Mexico accounted for about 2% of its US shipments. Both companies have invested heavily in infrastructure in Mexico after tariffs imposed during Trump’s first term and the pandemic spurred diversification away from China. Tariffs would have widespread ramifications for US manufacturers, making it more expensive to produce goods that use foreign components.
• Producer prices for soap, cleaners, and toilet preparation manufacturers climbed to a new high in June, up 1% compared to a year ago, after rising 1.1% in the previous June-versus-June annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by soap and toilet preparation manufacturers shrank 1.1% year over year in May, while the average industry wage rose 6.8% over the same period to $24.90 per hour, BLS data show. Retail prices for personal care products, as measured by the consumer price index, rose 0.6% year over year in June and 0.1% from May, BLS data show.