As the United States solicits feedback on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ahead of the deal’s review next year, manufacturers are mulling how they can minimize their exposure to tariffs. Cross-border trade in North America has already gone through a series of changes, first with the scrapping of the North American Free Trade Agreement for USMCA in 2020, then with 25% tariffs placed on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier this year. A tariff exemption was granted for USMCA-compliant goods, although levies on non-qualifying imports from Canada now face a 35% duty. Mexico and Canada are the U.S.’ largest trading partners, with the country importing $505.5 billion and $411.9 billion worth of goods from the countries in 2024, respectively. The tariff exemption has led many firms already manufacturing in and sourcing from the two nations to reevaluate their products to see what qualifies. Some have seen increased business or a competitive advantage due to their existing compliance with USMCA. But the tariff situation has been too fluid to prompt major moves for manufacturers with global supply chains, according to trade consultants and attorneys.

Verso Corporation announced that Brian D. Cullen will become its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer effective June 16, 2021. "I am very pleased to have someone of Brian's caliber join Verso's leadership team and serve in this critical role for our company," said President and Chief Executive Officer Randy Nebel. "His operating finance proficiency and experience combined with his strong strategic thinking and leadership skills will be extremely beneficial to Verso as we continue to strengthen our position as a leader in the paper industry." Mr. Cullen has over 20 years of broad financial and strategic leadership experience, with the majority of his career holding executive and senior leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, including McDonald's Corporation and The Procter & Gamble Co. Prior to joining Verso he served as US Vice President of Finance and Controller for McDonald's Corporation. Mr. Cullen holds a B.B.A. in Finance with accounting concentration from The University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Huhtamaki has completed the sale of the vacated manufacturing facility and related land usage rights in Guangzhou, China, as announced on April 21, 2017. Further, to conclude the consolidation of its foodservice packaging operations in South China, Huhtamaki closed down the manufacturing unit in Shandong, China, impacting app. 200 jobs. The product range manufactured in Shandong will in the future be sourced externally. In addition, to gain synergies from the recent acquisition of International Paper's foodservice packaging operations in China, comprising of manufacturing units in Tianjin and Shanghai, Huhtamaki has decided to consolidate its manufacturing operations in Tianjin into one unit. All manufacturing operations will be transferred to the unit acquired from IP. Employees currently working at the unit to be closed will be offered equivalent work opportunities at the continuing Tianjin unit. The transfer is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Click Read More below for additional information.