Trump’s tariffs on Canadian lumber could result in toilet paper shortages in the U.S. WSOC TV [Video]

Five years after the global shortages of toilet paper at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian lumber could leave U.S. stores struggling to stock it once again.

The Trump administration had threatened to hike tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber to 27% as soon as April 2, and possibly to as high as 50% by an unspecified date, Bloomberg reported. That could have a big impact on the availability of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp (NBSK), a material derived from wood chips that is used to make toilet paper and paper towels.

Last year, the U.S. imported 2 million tons of Canadian NBSK, Brian McClay, chairman of Trusted Providers of Global Pulp Market Information, told Bloomberg, noting that Canadian pulp is prized for toilet paper.

“Some of these mills in the United States, some of the big branded products, not only want softwood pulp from Canada, they want softwood pulp from this particular …