Trump’s Tariffs on Canadian Newsprint Are Overturned
Quote:WASHINGTON — The United States International Trade Commission on Wednesday overturned a Trump administration decision to impose tariffs on Canadian newsprint, saying that American paper producers are not harmed by newsprint imports.
The unanimous decision by the five-member body eliminates tariffs that have been in effect since January, handing a win to small and medium-size newspapers, which have struggled to absorb the cost of higher newsprint and have made cuts, including layoffs, as a result.
The Commerce Department imposed tariffs as high as 20 percent on newsprint from Canada after North Pacific Paper Company, a paper mill in Washington State, filed a complaint alleging that subsidies the Canadian government provides to its manufacturers put American paper companies at a disadvantage.
The commission, which is an American government agency that reviews unfair trade practices, said in a statement that it “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.”
Details of the commission’s findings will be published by Oct. 8, the statement said.
The decision will allow Canadian paper providers to stop paying tariffs that had already caused widespread damage in the struggling newspaper industry.
Dozens of regional newspapers across the country have cut staff, reduced the numbers of days they printed and, in some cases, closed entirely, unable to contend with the increased costs.
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The decision by the commission deals a blow to the North Pacific Paper Company, which filed a complaint last year arguing that dumped and subsidized imports of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada were depressing prices and eroding profitability.
Norpac was the only manufacturer to file a complaint. The rest of the industry has blamed the declining print newspaper business, rather than Canada, for its struggles. The situation thrust Norpac and its owner, the private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, into the spotlight as newspapers complained that their costs were surging as a result of the tariffs.