Some key economic indicators for the North American plastics industry are trending down to start 2025, Plastics News Economics Editor Bill Wood noted in the February Numbers That Matter Live. Watch the full recording below.
Wood took a deep dive into the data, explaining that he wanted to get a good idea of the state of plastics manufacturing now, before tariffs start to impact the sector.
Plastics manufacturing has been in a recession for months, and higher inflation and higher interest rates are preventing the economy from achieving a soft landing.
Will tariffs be a positive or a negative? That will depend, Wood said.
“Well, I have to say this at the beginning, I am almost certain, not certain about anything, but I’m almost certain that there will be some businesses, companies, market segments that actually benefit from the tariffs,” Wood said.
“The question is, will the net winners, or the net of the winners minus the losers, be positive? And obviously, the plan, as it’s been proposed by the [Trump] administration, is that the net outcome will be positive. That this will help the domestic manufacturing base. And I am all for helping the domestic manufacturing base. I think that’s been needing assistance for quite some time,” he said.
“And I’m also prepared to believe that anytime you have to improve something, there may be a short period in the beginning of pain…. You have to get a healthy correction, as they say, in the stock market, before you can then advance up to new highs. And so I am open to the notion and empathetic to the thinking that that is what could happen. However, I’m not convinced that that’s going to happen,” Wood said.
“Part of the problem is nothing specific has been put in place,” Wood said.
The next Numbers That Matter Live is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25.