U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) and a bipartisan group of New York congressmen seek to have temporary U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint paper reconsidered to protect local newspapers.
The temporary U.S. tariffs on Canadian uncoated groundwood paper (UGW), which is used as newsprint, were imposed in January, increased in March, and may reach as high as 32 percent, which could severely impact local newspapers, according to the lawmakers’ June 8 letter sent to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and International Trade Commission (ITC) Chairman Rhonda Schmidtlein. U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins (D-NY), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), John Faso (R-NY), and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) joined Katko in signing the letter.
The preliminary duty rates are part of the ITC’s ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into Canada’s import of UGW, according to the letter, with final determinations expected to be made later this year. However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is required to start collecting bonds or cash deposits now from Canadian importers to cover estimated amounts, the lawmakers wrote.
“This is having an immediate impact on the pricing of newsprint for our local newspapers – some papers are experiencing a significant price increase from suppliers of up to almost 30 percent,” according to their letter.
The situation could worsen, the lawmakers wrote, noting, “As an industry that is already confronting a decline in newspaper circulation, readership and print advertising due to increased internet competition an affirmative final determination from the International Trade Commission has the potential to destabilize the industry and accelerate the decline of print news media.”
Such negative impacts from the tariffs “would cause an undue burden,” especially for smaller local and regional publications that may not have the scale to weather tariffs of this kind, they wrote. “It would limit the availability of information and undermine our values to uphold a free and accessible press,” according to the letter.
Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (STOPP), a coalition of associations, printers, publishers, paper suppliers and distributors, also has called attention to the negative impact from the newsprint tariffs, which the organization said threaten 600,000 U.S. printing and publishing industry jobs.
“We respectfully urge you to weigh the impact a remedy will have on the newspaper industry as you further deliberate during your investigation,” concluded the lawmakers.