Lawmakers warn Trump tariffs threaten local newspapers

Members of Congress warned that newspapers in their home states are in danger of reducing news coverage, laying off workers or going out of business if the United States maintains recently imposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint.

The Trump administration ordered the tariffs in response to a complaint from a paper producer in Washington state. It argues that Canadian competitors take advantage of government subsidies to sell their product at unfairly low prices.

About a dozen lawmakers testified yesterday [Macau time] against making the tariffs permanent during a United States International Trade Commission hearing. The commission is reviewing whether U.S. producers of certain groundwood paper products, including newsprint, have been materially injured because of the imports from Canada. The commission’s findings help determine whether the Department of Commerce makes the tariffs permanent.

Newsprint is generally the second-largest expense for local papers. The tariffs have increased newsprint prices by 25 to 30 percent.

Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine both argued that the tariffs will hurt the industry they’re designed to help because it will diminish the market for newsprint in America as newspapers shrink or close.

“If you end up with a smaller market, you haven’t helped anybody, let alone the plant in Washington that is petitioning for this help,” King said.

The newsprint tariffs reflect President Donald Trump’s tough new approach to U.S. trade relations, but they are separate from other high-profile trade actions taken in recent weeks. The administration has also sought to curb imports from China and steel and aluminum imports from a range of countries.

No lawmaker testified in favor of the tariffs. The lawmakers who testified included Republicans and Democrats from a broad cross-section of the country.

Joining their ranks in the afternoon, Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said that while some media outlets have found their footing in the digital age, there are still many places where Americans struggle to get access to broadband. Many consumers in small towns across the country, he said, “like to read a paper front to back, hold it in hand.”

“These folks don’t have the option to go online to get their news,” Jones testified.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the tariffs have led to surprise newsprint shortages and price hikes across the Southeast. He said papers in Vicksburg and Natchez have cited rapid increases in newsprint costs for cutting their print paper to five days per week, instead of seven.

“It defies logic that NORPAC, just one mill located in the opposition end of the United States, can create this type of disruption and uncertainty,” Wicker said. AP