In the News

NORTHAMPTON — Controversial tariffs imposed on newsprint by the Trump administration have caused added financial burden for newspapers across the country in recent months — but they are likely to end in the near future.

The International Trade Commission this week issued a unanimous ruling that the imported Canadian newsprint, which is formally known as uncoated groundwood paper, is not injuring American industry and that two sets of duties imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department, one in January and the other in March, which raised the price of newsprint by about 30 percent, should stop.

Michael Rifanburg, publisher of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Greenfield Recorder and the Athol Daily News, said he was pleased to learn of the commission’s reversal of tariffs on Canadian newsprint.

“The tariffs were extremely costly to us as a newspaper and a commercial printer,” Rifanburg said. “It caused us to explore efficiencies within our operations and, in some departments, reduce staff.”

But even with the end to the tariffs looming, it’s unclear what the long-term impact will be, as newsprint use is already trending down and the tariffs may have hastened this reduction. Many newspapers across the country made similar decisions in the face of the tariffs, including cutting down on publishing days and lowering page counts — and in some cases stopping publishing altogether.

The Tampa Bay Times, for instance, announced in May it would eliminate 50 jobs by June to try to manage the estimated $3.5-million additional cost the paper would pay per year as a result of the tariffs.

“Regardless of the direction of newsprint pricing, we are committed to delivering our readers their local news in the form they want to receive it,” Rifanburg said.

David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance in Washington, D.C., issued a statement that the decision to end the tariff will help to preserve the vitality of local newspapers and to prevent additional job losses in the printing and publishing sectors.

“The end of these unwarranted tariffs means local newspapers can focus once again on playing a vital role in our democracy by keeping citizens informed and connected to the daily life of their communities,” Chavern said.

Newspapers annually purchase 2.4 million tons of newsprint, with Canada supplying about 60 percent, according to figures supplied by the alliance. The Gazette is among newspapers that use Canadian newsprint.

Even outside the industry, there was significant pressure to end the tariffs, with U.S. Congressman Richard E. Neal, the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, among those critics.

“It is a great victory for local newspapers and the millions of Americans who faithfully read them each day,” Neal said of the commission’s decision in a statement.

Neal communicated regularly with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lightizer and David Johnson, the chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission, to express his opposition to the tariffs.

Neal cited the stresses on newspapers, including online news and other changes in how people consume news.

“In my opinion, imposing tariffs on Canadian newsprint would add another unwarranted burden on an industry already in a precarious economic position,” Neal said.

The International Trade Commission determined that “a U.S. industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada that the U.S. Department of Commerce has determined are subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.” Its full report will be published in October.

The tariffs originally came in response to a petition from Northern Pacific Paper, also known as Norpac, a Washington state company that employs about 300 people and is owned by the private equity firm One Rock Capital. That company has the right to appeal the decision to lift the tariffs.

News Media Alliance in July filed a brief with the commission that reiterated arguments presented in a July hearing that the tariffs were not warranted. These arguments included that buying and selling of newsprint is a regional market, and that Norpac doesn’t compete with North American mills in the eastern part of the United States; that newspapers consider many factors, not just price, when purchasing newsprint; that the ongoing move from print to digital, not imports from Canada, is what has caused financial challenges for the U.S. newsprint industry; and that making tariffs permanent would only accelerate the decline in the market and harm U.S. producers.