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Massachusetts congressional lawmakers praised federal trade officials Wednesday for voting to overturn the Trump administration's tariffs on Canadian newsprint.

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, touted the United States International Trade Commission's unanimous vote and finding that Canadian newsprint doesn't hurt American industry.

Markey said he believed the ITC "made the right call" by reversing the tariffs, which he argued "would have eviscerated local newspapers."

"Local newspapers are where municipal governments post announcements, where proud parents announce graduations and where we celebrate the events that bind us neighbors and friends. Unfortunately, the damage to newspapers from preliminary tariffs imposed by the Department of Commerce since January has already been done," he said in a statement. "I hope today's ITC reversal will restore stability to the market, and that publishers will see a full recovery." 

"Our democracy depends on it," the senator added.

Markey called on the ITC earlier this month to consider how the tariffs on newsprint could harm the newspaper industry, particularly when it comes to jobs and local news coverage.

He offered that the commission's decision could particularly impact Massachusetts newspapers, which largely import their newsprint from Canada "for the simple reason that U.S. mills do not operate" in the region. 

"These increased costs as a result of these tariffs cannot be absorbed by newspapers and the smallest community publications will be hardest hit," the senator wrote in his Aug. 16 letter. "I'm concerned that the ultimate result will be a loss of jobs, local news coverage and even the shuttering of newspapers in Massachusetts and across the United States."

Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said the ITC's decision "clearly demonstrates that our domestic paper industry is not harmed by imported newsprint."

"It is a great victory for local newspapers and the millions of Americans who faithfully read them each day," he said in a statement, noting that he had raised the issue of newsprint tariffs directly with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and USITC Chairman David Johanson in recent weeks. 

Neal argued that such tariffs "would add another unwarranted burden on an industry already in a precarious economic position."

"With today's emphatic ruling by the ITC, community newspapers are protected, local jobs are being saved and the tariff discussion is now closed," he said.

The commission, on Wednesday, said it had 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."

Due to the commission's findings, "no antidumping or countervailing duty orders will be issued on imports of this product from Canada," officials added.

Officials with Northern Pacific Paper, a based company which had advocated for the tariffs, told CNN Money they were "surprised" by the ITC vote and plan to review the panel's written determination when it's released.

"We are very disappointed in the USITC's negative determination, given that the record clearly shows that the domestic industry has been materially injured by dumped and subsidized imports from Canada," Norpac CEO Craig Anneberg told the news outlet.

The ITC decision allows Canadian paper companies to stop paying the newsprint tariffs, which the Trump administration imposed in January. 

Ross, in announcing the tariffs, said they would allow U.S. producers "to receive relief from the market-distorting effects of potential government subsidies while taking into account the need to keep groundwood paper prices affordable for domestic consumers."