The subject of tariffs has been a theme throughout 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump has made tariffs an important centerpiece of his plans to bring manufacturing back to the United States as well as correct imbalances in trade policies. As negotiations have occurred between the U.S. and other countries, the amounts of these tariffs have fluctuated. This has made purchasing planning more challenging for supply
chain professionals.

As we see in the feature stories in the October 2025 issue – “Nitrocellulose, Tariffs and the Raw Material Market” starting on page 12, “The Asia Pacific Ink Market” beginning on page 15, and “The Digital Textile Market Continues to Grow,” which starts on page 18 – the impact of these potential tariffs differs with each of these markets. 

For example, with digital textile printing, there are a variety of impacts. Equipment prices might rise, with some printers even moving ahead with purchases ahead of the possible tariffs. Higher costs of imported textiles, garments, and home décor items would benefit U.S.-based print shops, as they can produce their products without being affected by tariffs. This could also cause international companies to begin operations in the U.S.

My feature on the Asia-Pacific ink market shows similar trade-offs. Tariffs can be placed on goods being sold to the U.S., but this is leading non-U.S. companies to focus on supplying manufacturers within the Asia-Pacific region. As for my raw material feature, one of the concerns for purchasing departments is that they are having difficulty predicting costs as prices shift, which makes long-term contracts and trends harder to forecast. This has led to some price increases being announced on ingredients and inks.

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In addition, the October 2025 issue of Ink World features our annual Buyers’ Guide. The Buyers’ Guide provides the printing ink industry with its most complete listing of raw materials, equipment and services, distributors and trade associations. You can also find our annual Buyers’ Guide online at ajay.ink.rodmanadmin.com. We hope that you find it to be very helpful!

David Savastano
Ink World Editor
dsavastano@rodmanmedia.com