A trade war may be underway, but International Paper CEO Mark Sutton told CNBC that he’s not worried about it affecting his business.
“So far we haven’t had any direct impacts in any kind of retaliatory way,” Sutton said Thursday on “Closing Bell.” “The biggest issue for us, and companies like us, is the secondary impact.”
One example is packaged food.
“If our customers are caught up in a trade war and tariffs, of course they need less packaging, and we end up getting hit,” he said.
Sutton’s comments come after President Donald Trump reached a general agreement on trade with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday on CNBC that the administration also expects an agreement with Canada and Mexico “very soon.” Meanwhile, negotiations regarding future trade agreements with China remain uncertain.
“The thing about China and fiber is they need fiber to make their fiber-based products,” Sutton said. But, he also pointed out, “They don’t have it themselves, so depending on what type of product it is, they will need to secure it from somewhere.”
International Paper produces fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper.
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