March 28, 2025 15:42

After steel and aluminum, the Trump administration is now preparing to introduce new trade tariffs on European car imports—25% starting April 2—prompting retaliatory measures from the European Commission. However, it remains unclear which U.S. goods will be affected.

The potential impact of the looming trade war on the plastics industry was recently addressed by the North American trade association Plastics.
On Thursday, the European Plastics Converters (EuPC) also issued a warning, expressing concern over the negative consequences for more than 50,000 companies across Europe, with 1.6 million jobs potentially at risk.

“These tariffs risk triggering a chain reaction of price hikes, reduced competitiveness and job losses across the EU,” said Paolo Bochicchio, EuPC managing director. “They could seriously undermine Europe’s industrial and environmental goals.”

EuPC foresees four potentially damaging effects for the European plastics industry: a sharp increase in raw material costs, which would mainly impact small and medium-sized enterprises; a rise in imports of cheaper finished plastic goods; employment losses in the plastics sector and related supply chains (food, medical, transport and construction); and a marked slowdown—or even a stall—in investments in recycling and circularity, hitting Europe’s green ambitions.

EuPC is therefore calling on Brussels to scrap the proposed tariffs, support SMEs with cost offsets, secure stable raw material supply and ensure a level playing field if tariffs move ahead—including for finished goods.

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