Breaking news: Canadian newsprint tariffs take toll

U.S. newspapers, printers pinched by higher prices

Little noticed amid the trade war discussion, tariffs levied by the Trump administration on the Canadian paper used to make newsprint are starting to take a toll on U.S. newspapers and printers.

In the last few months, the Commerce Department has put in place two sets of duties on producers and exporters of uncoated groundwood paper from Canada. The first, in January, ranged from 4.42 percent to 9.93 percent of the wholesale price after a preliminary determination that suppliers had received financial assistance from the Canadian government.

Some U.S. newspapers and third-party printers say they’ve already seen the effect of the tariffs in industries already facing declining revenues. The Tampa Bay Times said it will cut about 50 jobs by June to try to manage the estimated $3.5-million additional cost the paper will pay per year as a result of the tariffs.

“It’s really going to have a devastating effect on the newspaper industry, and it will ripple through the rest of the printing industry,” said Frank Romano, professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology and an expert in printing.

The petitions that led to the tariffs were filed in August by North Pacific Paper Co., a Longview, Wash., producer of uncoated groundwood paper — the material on which newspapers are printed.

Two decades ago, there were about 15 newsprint mills in the U.S., said Paul Boyle, senior vice president of public policy at the News Media Alliance, a trade group representing almost 2,000 news organizations.

But as the newspaper industry fell on difficult times and demand for newsprint steadily decreased, the mills began to disappear. Today, there are only a handful left in the nation, Boyle said.

The U.S. demand for newsprint is 2.4 million tons, he said; Canadian paper mills provide about 60 percent of that.

At the Tampa Bay Times, about 80 percent of its newsprint supply was Canadian, said Paul Tash, chairman and chief executive of the Tampa Bay Times/Times Publishing Co. “America does not produce enough newsprint to meet the needs of American customers,” he said. “There’s not a lot of spare capacity in the market.”

North Pacific Paper, owned by private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, said it understands the concerns voiced by newspaper publishers.

But company spokesman David Richey said the firm disagreed “with the notion that their industry requires low-priced, subsidized newsprint from Canada to sustain their own business model.”

“We are not asking for anything but a level playing field with the Canadian producers,” Richey said.