Impending, for now, tariffs on recyclable materials threaten significant disruption for recyclers and consumers of nonferrous metals, wrote Recycling Today Editorial Director on March 20. 

President Donald Trump implemented tariffs March 2 on Canada and Mexico under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), saying the moves were designed to combat the threat to U.S. national security, including public health, posed by drug trafficking.

The tariffs, which went into effect March 4, were paused for one month starting March 6 for imports that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), including automobiles and recovered metals for recycling.

According to Toto’s reporting, the Recycled Materials Association is concerned about President Trump’s paused tariffs on recyclable materials from Canada and Mexico. Adam Shaffer, the association’s vice president of international trade and global affairs, stated the looming uncertainty threatens significant disruption for U.S. recyclers. 

“Our membership is quite diverse, so even though the U.S. is a net exporter of recycled materials to both Canada and Mexico across the commodity spectrum, many of our members are also importing from these countries, too,” said Shaffer in Toto’s article. “Additionally, Canada has already announced its consultations for retaliatory tariffs—and that second list of proposed retaliation includes a significant number of U.S. exports of recycled materials that would be subject to new tariffs.”

That list, reported Toto, includes dozens of tariff lines for recycled materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastics, electronics and paper.

“While we haven’t looked at each specific line, the U.S. exports about $5 billion of recycled commodities to Canada, and the vast majority of these exports will be subject to retaliation if this list goes into effect,” Shaffer says.
According to the publication’s reporting, one recycler with operations on both sides of the Mexican border, said the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs has contributed to a slowdown in prime scrap generation and predicted scrap generation will remain choppy until the tariff situation is clarified. 

Recycling Today said another scrap company executive noted that export demand, particularly from Korea and India, seems soft as pricing is not as attractive as it was late last year.