Port strike leads to panic buying of toilet paper as store shelves remain empty

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“Panic buying” of toilet paper has been reported in parts of the country as Americans fear the impact of the ongoing port strike.

About 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen's Association walked out Tuesday morning after their contract with the ports expired. News that the strike could impact 36 ports appears to have led some panicked consumers to buy roll after roll of toilet paper and post pictures of their local stores with empty shelves.

Social media users in New Jersey, Colorado, Virginia and other states reported that shelves were out of toilet paper.

While experts said USA today that certain imported goods, including bananas, alcohol and seafood, are likely to be affected by the strike; toilet paper was not mentioned.

According to the Center for Land Use Interpretation, the vast majority of toilet paper sold in the United States comes from domestic factories. Most transport takes place by train and truck and not via ports. Most of the imported paper comes from Canada and Mexico, which do not require shipping ports like those affected by the strike.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia nonetheless blamed the strike on toilet paper shortages at her local store. “Toilet paper is always the first thing to go,” she wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. “We shouldn’t depend on foreign countries for all our needs! Put America First!!!”

Others looking for toilet paper posted photos on social media of empty shelves in stores across the country.

An X user posted a picture of the inside of a Costco in Brick, New Jersey with the caption, “No toilet paper available!”

“The toilet paper panic started in Sam’s Club. No toilet paper,” another X wrote, while another noted, “They cleaned out the toilet paper at my local Walmart in Virginia. Toilet paper hoarding 2.0!”

Other X users pointed out that unnecessary panic buying can lead to shortages, others recalled the toilet paper panic in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

As people feared contracting the then-unknown virus, some began stocking up on the necessities. Stores were so depleted that some major chains began selling international brands of toilet paper.

Americans spent $1.4 billion on toilet paper in the four weeks after pandemic lockdowns began, a 102 percent increase from the same period a year earlier Washington Post reported at the time. Panic led to a surge in demand, which exceeded supply and led to a shortage.