Business

International Trade Commission overturns Trump tariffs on Canadian newsprint

by Justin Wise - 08/29/18 1:25 PM ET

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on Wednesday to overturn tariffs the Trump administration imposed on Canadian newsprint earlier this year.

The five-member body voted unanimously that U.S. newspaper producers are not negatively affected by newsprint imports.

The trade commission said in a statement that 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 (Commerce) has determined are subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.”

The agency said in an email to The Hill that it would send its formal opinion to the U.S. Commerce Department by Sept. 24.

The New York Times noted that the decision is one that will likely have a positive effect on small- and medium-sized newspapers across the country, which were hit especially hard by the tariffs.

The Tampa Bay Times earlier this year blamed dozens of layoffs on the newsprint tariffs, which were originally imposed in January. The tariffs, which were capped at 22 percent, were put in place after a complaint from a paper plant in Washington state.

Other newspapers were forced to reduce the number of days they printed a paper or close their business entirely, according to the Times.

The decision means that Canadian paper providers will no longer need to pay tariffs on imports of newsprint, the Times reported.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) applauded the decision, saying in a statement that “these tariffs were extremely harmful to our regional newspapers – the lifeblood of our local communities.”

“The International Trade Commission made the exactly right decision today to completely eliminate them. I will remain vigilant to make sure that they never return,” said Schumer.

Tags Canada Chuck Schumer International Trade Commission Newsprint Tariff