Commission removes newsprint tariffs, a win for US newspapers

WASHINGTON — The U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday nullified tariffs on imported newsprint, a decision that is good news for newspaper and printing companies concerned about rising costs and shrinking revenues.

“The ITC’s decision will help to preserve the vitality of local newspapers and prevent additional job losses in the printing and publishing sectors,” said David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance.

The Commerce Department had imposed the tariffs in response to a complaint from a paper producer in Washington state that argued that its Canadian competitors took advantage of government subsidies to sell their product at unfairly low prices.

Canadian paper mills provide about 60 percent of the 2.4 million-ton demand for newsprint in the U.S.

In July, lawmakers testified before the ITC that the tariffs were hurting the very paper industry they were supposed to protect. That’s because publishers were responding to the additional costs by reducing the number of pages in their newspapers, thus dampening demand for newsprint, the paper used to make newspapers, books and advertising inserts. Others testified that the higher cost of newsprint had led newspapers to cut staffing and the number of local events that they cover.

“Some newspapers have folded. Many have trimmed pages or paper sizes,” the National Newspaper Association said in a newsletter Wednesday. “Lots of jobs went unfilled. Whether removing the tariffs will enable any of these decisions to be modified is unknown.”

Newsprint generally is cited as the second-largest expense for newspapers after personnel.

In Nevada, the cost of newsprint jumped 28 percent at its highest, according to Barry Smith, executive director of the Nevada Press Association.

“All throughout the state people (press operators) tightened their belts and tried to cut down on pages,” he said.

Several Northern Nevada publications were forced to cut the number of publication days for some products, in some cases from two days to one day per week and in other cases from six days to two days per week.

It will be another several months before the tariffs stop being collected. The North Pacific Paper Company, which filed the original complaint, has the right to appeal the decision and said it is assessing its options.

“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,” said company CEO Craig Anneberg.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If the tariffs are removed, Smith said news publications would be able to go into recovery mode.

“In the long run, this hopefully will be a blip in the prices,” he said.

Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @Nicole0Raz on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.