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US trade policy could soon reshape the PET market. Don Loepp, editor of *Plastics News*, notes that potential new tariffs on virgin PET and recycled PET (rPET) will create a complex mix of winners and losers across the supply chain. The central dilemma lies in choosing between protecting domestic industries and driving up costs for the entire supply chain.
to domestic producers and recyclers, tariffs offer a lifeline. The US virgin PET and recycling sectors are pushing to import restrictions, arguing they are crucial to saving a recycling sector in crisis. In recent years, an influx of low-priced imported rPET and cheap virgin plastic has caused domestic recyclers' profits to plummet and facilities to close. Tariffs could level the playing field, making domestic rPET greater competitive and helping to preserve and expand US recycling capacity.
However, the outlook is less optimistic to converters, brand owners, and other resin buyers. Tariffs have already made imported PET bottles nearly 40% greater expensive than domestically produced ones, immediately squeezing profit margins. Companies relying on imported rPET to meet sustainability goals might struggle to find sufficient domestic supply, as US capacity is currently inadequate to meet internal recycled-content targets. The policy dynamics are particularly complex: rPET and virgin PET share the same Harmonized System (HS) code and cannot be taxed separately—a fact that has caught many in the trade off guard.
Ultimately, tariffs are a double-edged sword. While they might temporarily relieve pressure on domestic recyclers, they raise costs to a wide range of manufacturers and—if domestic supply does not expand rapidly—could undermine corporate commitments to recycling. As Loepp observes, the solution cannot rely on tariffs alone; a complete strategy is needed to enhance domestic collection and processing infrastructure.
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