Tag Archives: tariffs

Imports of Nearly All Widely Traded Polymers and Chemicals are NOT Exempt from the New Tariffs Announced by the US on April 2, 2025

The tariff situation is rapidly evolving. The Executive Order announced by the White House on April 2, 2025 to go into effect April 5 imposed a 10% general tariff on nearly all products imported into the US. This was to be followed by additional tariffs that would vary depending on the country. All of these may change as a result of currently ongoing negotiations.

In Annex II to the Executive Order, the White House exempted certain strategic goods. Most organic chemicals, polymers, and fabricated plastic products are not on this list and are not exempt.

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US-China Polyethylene Tariffs: History, Market Effects, and New Developments

In 2018, the US imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and China retaliated with a 25% tariff on PE imports from the US. This caused a drop in China’s imports from US in 2019 but this was followed by a resurgence in mid-2020 through mid-2021, aided in part by Covid-19-related demand. Imports from the US slowed in 2021 as China expanded capacity, but volumes began climbing again and reached a peak in 2023 at 2.8 million tons. This slowed to 2.6 million tons in 2024. From 2022 through 2024 China’s total annual imports were steady, roughly around 17 million tons per year. The increased US share of the total was at the expense of reduced supplies from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Further declines in China’s PE imports from the US are likely in 2025 because of new tariffs and expanding capacity in China.

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US Plastic Product Imports Most Likely to be Impacted by the 10% Tariff on China

On February 4, 2025, the US imposed a 10% tariff on imports of all products from China, which included polymers and fabricated plastic products. US imports of polymers from China are small but there are large imports of fabricated plastic products. China countered with tariffs on imports from US of LNG and other products, but not on the large volumes of polymer shipped to China from the US.

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Small Drop in China’s Tariffs on Polymer Imports from US

As of February 14, 2020, China will knock 2.5% off the punitive tariffs applied on imports of many polymers from the US. Most of the tariffs have been in effect since 2018.

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China’s Ban on Plastic Bags Likely to Impact Imports of Polymers and Exports of PE Bags

By the end of 2020, China will ban plastic bags in major cities and, by 2022, country-wide. China is the world’s largest importer of the polyethylene used to manufacture bags, in addition to producing large volumes of polyethylene domestically. China exports large volumes of polyethylene bags.

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Tariffs Impact US Imports of Plastic Products from China

On August 23rd, the US imposed tariffs of 25% on imports of a number of fabricated plastic products from China, including film/sheet from PE and PP, tubes/pipes from PE and PP and monofilament from PE. US imports from China of all these products except PE film/sheet were down in August versus July.

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