‘Tariffic!’

Commission torpedoes proposed move which would have hurt papers

There’s fantastic news in regard to a potentially very serious situation first commented on in this space on April 12.

The United States International Trade Commission voted last week to remove tariffs on newsprint which threatened to negatively, perhaps severely, impact print media.

The tariffs were imposed in January and March because one of the smallest of the seven newsprint producers in the U. S. complained Canadian producers were receiving government assistance and were selling newsprint in the U.S too cheaply when compared to the price in other nations.

But the Trade Commission determined the pricing practices of Canadian newsprint companies “did not materially harm the U. S. newsprint industry.”

In fact, The American Forest & Paper Association, the industry organization for U.S. paper producers, did not support the case which led to the tariffs being imposed.

April’s Reporter editorial mused “frankly, once tariffs are imposed they usually don’t go away unless there’s some overwhelming political motivation.”

Apparently, something like that is exactly what happened.

Nineteen elected officials from both parties testified before the commission, opposing the tariffs and supporting print businesses. That was characterized as a “show of force” in support of American print media.

Happily, those 19 included Milam County’s representative in Congress, Rep. Bill Flores of Bryan.

“The decision is good news for the newspaper and printing companies concerned about rising price and shrinking revenues after the advent of digital media,” David Chavern, president and CEO of News Media Alliance, said.

“This is a great day for American journalism,” he added. “The decision will help to preserve the vitality of local newspapers and prevent additional job losses in the printing and publishing industries.”

The tariff grew to as high as 22 percent in March, but the U. S. Department of Commerce earlier this month finalized tariff levels “as high as 17 percent.”

Predictions were that, if the tariff had been allowed to stand, community papers—you are reading one—would see productions prices increase by 8 to 10 percent in the short run.

In fact, problems were already beginning to show up.

After the preliminary tariffs were enacted, the Tampa Bay Times laid off about 50 employees and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette cut back its newspaper delivery service to five days a week.—M.B.