Texas’ no good, very bad 2025 somehow keeps getting worse.
It wasn’t enough to see the Texan economy rocked by a string of factory shutdowns earlier this year…
Plus a big drawdown in breweries as the alcohol market collapses in on itself…
No, unfortunately it looks like the pain is going to continue.
More specifically, International Paper has just closed two different factories based in Edinburg, Texas, at the cost of 137 good jobs.
This is part of a larger downsizing by packaging companies that has impacted factories across several states – all tied to a decline in the need for food packaging.
Which is, of course, a symptom of the broader malaise facing the food and beverage industries in 2025.
Tariffs are, of course, taking their toll – as is inflation – by hiking prices and thereby reducing consumption.
Of course, consumers are also pulling back their spending in anticipation of a broader economic pullback. (Especially in Texas.)
And the labor shortages we’ve seen since the pandemic have only been exacerbated by the immigration crackdown.
So you’ve got a bit of a perfect storm for food producers – who are then reducing their orders for food packaging, and here we are.
Recognizing that there are broader macroeconomic factors at play is important, but it’s cold comfort for the 137 Texans who just lost their jobs.
Plus – and this can’t be emphasized enough – the grand irony of all of this is that International Paper is planning to add jobs and capacity to a factory in Mexico.
Wasn’t that the whole point of the trade war in the first place – creating more jobs in the USA?
Well, turns out (at least in this case) the opposite has occurred. And if you have any ideas for how to get Texas and the broader country out of this pickle, please share in the comments.
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