Several empty rows of toilet paper, strangely reminiscent of the pandemic era, are believed to be caused not by the port strike, but by consumer panic.
“They emptied the toilet paper from my local Walmart in Virginia,” said a user on the social network X on Tuesday, a comment accompanied by a photo of empty shelves.
“Costco and Target shelves are out of paper towels in Monmouth County, New Jersey,” another person posts in X.
“I saw people buying toilet paper and water because of the port strike. A Costco employee told me they were out of toilet paper this morning,” he adds.
However, the strike at ports in the United States and Canada would have no impact on the supply of these products.
Indeed, the professional association representing paper manufacturers, American Forest and Paper Association, explains to CNN that the impacts of the strike would rather be to interrupt exports to foreign markets than imports of the product.
The strike could therefore result in a glut of toilet paper, not a shortage.
However, this did not prevent people from rushing to stock up for fear of a shortage.
