Dear Prime Minister Carney and Minister LeBlanc:
On behalf of the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association (CCCA), the voice of Canada’s corrugated and containerboard industry (encompassing corrugator box plants, sheet feeder operations and containerboard mills from coast to coast), we are writing to call on the Government of Canada to continue to engage U.S. counterparts and specifically press for the removal of corrugated cartons, boxes, and cases from the proposed August 19 measures, and ensure Canadian producers, workers, and supply chains are protected from unilateral trade action. Canada should make clear that the corrugated and containerboard industry is deeply integrated across the border, and that tariffs would harm manufacturers, workers and customers on both sides of the corrugated and containerboard industry.
Everything moves in a box. These tariffs threaten a deeply integrated cross‑border supply chain essential to Canada’s economy. Corrugated packaging is strong, circular, safe, customizable, cost‑effective, and engineered to keep Canada’s supply chains operating sustainably. Since virtually every product relies on corrugated packaging, disrupting this supply chain would disrupt many others.
Canada’s corrugated and containerboard sector supports approximately 27,000 jobs across the wider paper packaging industry. Statistics Canada’s 2025 GDP data underscores the broader economic exposure: $3.4 billion for pulp, paper and paperboard mills (NAICS 3221) and $2.5 billion for converted paper product manufacturing (NAICS 3222). While these figures extend beyond CCCA members alone, they are key to understanding the potential implications of tariffs on “cartons, boxes and cases of corrugated paper or paperboard.” CCCA is concerned that the proposed tariffs could increase costs for Canadian manufacturers and exporters, undermine competitiveness, and directly affect taxpayers, consumers and workers across agriculture and agri‑food, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, e‑commerce and retail, forestry, and recycling.
Disrupting corrugated trade may not only raise costs for manufacturers and exporters; it could also affect the recovered-fibre markets that help sustain Canada’s recycling infrastructure and broader sustainability goals.
Canada cannot be left vulnerable to unilateral trade actions that distort markets and jeopardize Canadian jobs. CCCA is drawing attention to the potential risk of these tariffs damaging a long‑standing, collaborative North American industry built on efficiency, circularity, and innovation. The corrugated sector is essential to both countries’ supply chains.
The CCCA stands ready to support the Government in consultations or technical discussions. We request swift action to protect our industry, our workers, and the stability of the North American supply chain. We power Canada’s economy sustainably, one box at a time.
Sincerely,
Serge Desgagnés, Executive Director, and the Board of Directors
Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association (CCCA)