Chem shares plunge as US proceeds with 25% Canadian, Mexican tariffs

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US-listed shares of chemical companies fell sharply – many by more than 5% – on Monday as the US proceeds with plans to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, its three biggest trading partners.

The selloff in chemical shares was sharper than that for the general market.

The following table shows the stock indices followed by ICIS.

Index	3-Mar	Change	%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	43,191.24	-649.67	-1.48%
S&P 500	5,849.72	-104.78	-1.76%
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index	851.42	-17.99	-2.07%
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index	901.32	-17.93	-1.95%

Shares of every US-listed company followed by ICIS fell.

TUESDAY’S TARIFFS
Unless the nations reach last-minute deals, the US will impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Mexico, 10% tariffs on all energy imports from Canada and 25% tariffs on all other imports from Canada.

The US will also proceed with an additional 10% that it proposed on all imports from China, according to a post from the White House’s Rapid Response account on social media platform X. This is on top of the 10% in new tariffs that the US already imposed earlier in 2025 on imports from China.

EFFECT ON US MARKETS
While the US has large trade surpluses in polyethylene (PE), it still imports large amounts of the plastic from Canada. Many of these imports go to processors in the bordering states of Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. These states are far from most of the plastic plants in the US, which are concentrated in Texas and Louisiana.

Processors in these states that border Canada will need to pay the tariffs or pay higher shipping costs to secure material from suppliers farther away.

The US also imports notable amounts of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) from Canada and Mexico as well as methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) from China.

The US receives large Canadian shipments of ammonia and potassium chloride, which is also known as muriate of potash (MOP).

At least one company, Canada’s Chemtrade Logistics, said it expected to pass a larger part of the tariffs to its customers. Chemtrade Logistics exports sodium chlorate, chlorine and sulfuric acid to the US.

RETALIATION
China already has retaliated by imposing tariffs on US imports of coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, farm equipment and some vehicles.

China has restricted exports of antimony and bismuth. Antimony is used to make catalysts for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and bismuth is used to make catalysts for polyurethanes.

Canada had proposed retaliatory tariffs of 25% on Canadian dollars (C$) 155 billion ($107 billion) worth of US imports.

The tariffs would be imposed in two phases. The first phase would cover C$30 billion of US imports of beverages, cosmetic, paper products and some finished plastics products, among others.

Canada was preparing a second list, worth C$125 billion.

All three countries could impose retaliatory tariffs on the substantial exports of PE, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other ethylene derivatives from the US.

OTHER POSSIBLE US TARIFFS
The US has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on imports from the EU.

On 12 March, the US will impose tariffs of 25% on all imports of steel and aluminium, a move that will remove exemptions that it granted to some countries. The US will expand the tariff to cover more products made of steel and aluminium.

In early April, the US said it would introduce retaliatory tariffs on imports from the rest of the world. These tariffs will consider what the US considers non-tariff trade barriers, such as value added tax (VAT) systems.

CHEM STOCK PERFORMANCE
The following table shows the performances of US-listed shares followed by ICIS.

Symbol	Name	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
ASIX	AdvanSix	26.82	-1.10	-3.94%
AVNT	Avient	41.23	-1.54	-3.60%
AXTA	Axalta Coating Systems	35.1	-1.11	-3.07%
BAK	Braskem	3.52	-0.17	-4.61%
CC	Chemours	13.86	-1.09	-7.29%
CE	Celanese	47.02	-3.92	-7.70%
DD	DuPont	78.83	-2.53	-3.11%
DOW	Dow	36.06	-2.05	-5.38%
EMN	Eastman	94.46	-3.39	-3.46%
FUL	HB Fuller	55.73	-1.01	-1.78%
HUN	Huntsman	16.04	-0.89	-5.26%
KRO	Kronos Worldwide	8.43	-0.32	-3.66%
LYB	LyondellBasell	73.41	-3.42	-4.45%
MEOH	Methanex	41.47	-2.57	-5.84%
NEU	NewMarket	562.65	-7.46	-1.31%
NGVT	Ingevity	45.24	-2.42	-5.08%
OLN	Olin	23.87	-1.52	-5.99%
PPG	PPG	111.72	-1.50	-1.32%
RPM	RPM International	123.09	-0.80	-0.65%
SCL	Stepan	58	-3.375	-5.50%
SHW	Sherwin-Williams	356.73	-4.75	-1.31%
TROX	Tronox	7.02	-0.615	-8.06%
TSE	Trinseo	4.62	-0.30	-6.10%
WLK	Westlake	108.71	-3.59	-3.20%

($1 = C$1.45)

Please also visit the US tariff, policy – impact on chemicals and energy topic page

Thumbnail shows money. Image by ICIS.