DIEPPE, New Brunswick – As Irving Tissue celebrated its fifth anniversary in Macon, Georgia, company President Robert K. Irving unveiled its latest expansion project. …The $600 million (USD) investment will add another 100 jobs and include a third ThruAir Dry paper making machine, additional converting lines, and a new fully automated warehouse,” said Mr. Irving. …Irving Tissue’s plant in Macon currently employs more than 400 people. It produces ultra-premium quality household paper products including soft bath tissue and high-quality paper towel that is both strong and absorbent. …“Since choosing Macon in 2017, Irving Tissue has invested around $1.5 billion (USD) into the community and created 400 well-paying jobs, with another 100 jobs on their way, for hardworking Georgians,” said Governor Kemp. The announcement will increase Irving Tissue’s annual ThruAir Dry capacity by 75,000 tonnes, the equivalent of 15 million cases. Total annual capacity at the Macon plant will now be 225,000 tonnes.
Related coverage in the Associated Press: Canada’s Irving Tissue plans a US$600M factory expansion in Georgia
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose sweeping new tariffs on imports, leading his critics to argue that the plan will raise prices and spur inflation. …Nearly 10% of building materials used in residential construction are imported, according to the NAHB… and Canada probably accounts for the bulk of those imports. “Any tariffs that raise the cost of building products will have a detrimental effect on housing affordability,” says NAHB CEO Jim Tobin. ….A steep tariff on Canadian lumber would likely hit homebuilders the hardest—and could raise the prices of new homes, at least temporarily. But observers are skeptical that Trump would impose a steep, immediate tariff on such a fundamental raw material imported from a close ally. NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said that it’s possible any tariff on lumber could be imposed over a ramp-up period to allow U.S. timber mills to boost production.
The uptick in fuel prices will likely be temporary, said Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America. However, the broader uncertainty tied to potential trade policy changes under the incoming Trump administration presents a new layer of unpredictability for contractors. …Future prices for crude oil and copper, typically reliable predictors of upcoming producer price index shifts, have recently declined. That indicates the potential for a near-term dip in energy input costs, he said. Contractors have largely benefited from input price stabilization in 2024. As of October, contractors expect their profit margins to expand through the first quarter of 2025. …“The next administration’s trade policy increases uncertainty regarding construction material costs,” said Basu. “Beyond the implications of potential tariffs, input prices may rise in the short term if purchasers rush to import materials prior to the implementation of those policies.”
Author and climate scientist Thomas Pedersen says British Columbians should be proud of the lead the province took with its carbon tax. Despite facing possible elimination, it remains an elegant solution to a global threat, he says. In his recently released book The Carbon Tax Question: Clarifying Canada’s Most Consequential Policy Debate, the former executive director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions provides an engaging political history of B.C.’s pioneering effort and takes aim at cynical politicians offering simplistic slogans aimed at killing carbon pricing. “A single province on the westernmost side of Canada stepped up and showed all nations that fair, redistributive, broad-spectrum carbon pricing could be done and done well, without economic harm,” Pedersen wrote. …The book arrives as politicians at both ends of the spectrum have soured on carbon taxes.