President Trump's escalating trade fight with Canada is about to make one of the most basic household necessities more expensive, as Canada prepares retaliatory tariffs on toilet paper and hundreds of other American goods.
The news was reported by The Daily Beast on Wednesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a list of nearly 900 products set for 25 percent to 50 percent tariffs starting in September, matching the levies Trump has already slapped on Canadian goods. Toilet paper made the list — a particularly painful target given that paper products already jumped in price after Trump's earlier 'Liberation Day' tariffs. Procter & Gamble, which makes Charmin, said those tariffs alone forced a 25 percent price hike on its paper products last summer, according to the report.
The U.S. imported $328 million worth of toilet paper from Canada in 2024, more than from any other country, and even Costco's popular Kirkland private-label paper products are largely Canadian-sourced, according to the Guardian.
The White House defended its posture toward Canada in a statement to the Daily Beast.
"Canada was offered the most generous trade deal of any of America's trading partners despite being overwhelmingly reliant on access to the American economy," the White House said.
Trump has shown no interest in de-escalating, telling right-wing radio host Glenn Beck this week that Canada — a wartime ally in every major U.S. conflict since World War I — is one of the "worst countries in the world" for how it treats American consumers.
The timing comes as Trump is already facing mounting criticism over the affordability crisis gripping American households. A three-time Trump voter publicly confronted him on live television this week, telling him in vulgar terms to focus on lowering costs. With Americans using an average of 141 rolls of toilet paper a year, more than any country on Earth, according to Statista, the coming price hike threatens to become an unusually literal symbol of the trade war's toll on everyday life.
Ironically, the Trump administration faced toilet paper woes in the first term as well, when the beginning of the COVID pandemic led to widespread panic-buying and shortages.