Should Trump’s Newsprint Tariffs be Delayed While Their Impact on Local Newspapers is Studied? (H.R. 6031)

What is H.R. 6031?

(Updated September 25, 2018)

This bill — known as the PRINT Act — would require the Commerce Dept. to carry out a study of the economic well-being, health, and vitality of the newsprint industry and the local newspaper publishing industry in the U.S. It’d also delay the imposition of tariffs of up to 16% on paper from Canada used for newsprint until the president has received the report and concluded that going ahead with the tariffs is in the economic interest of the U.S.

Specifically, the report would include:

• Trends in demand for newsprint and traditional printed newspapers, along with trends in demand for digital or online news.

• The costs of inputs in the production of traditional printed newspapers.

• The effect of declining readership of traditional printed newspapers on the continued viability of the newsprint and newspaper publishing industries, along with the continued availability of coverage of local news, local sports, local government, and local disaster prevention & awareness.

• Trends in the U.S. pulp and paper industry and the effect of declining demand for newsprint on those industries.

• Measures that newspaper publishers have taken to reduce costs in response to increased expenses on newsprint, and whether those have hurt employment in the newspaper and publishing industries along with local businesses that advertise in newspapers.

• The global production capacity for newsprint in light of declining demand.

The bill’s full title is the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade (PRINT) Act of 2018.

Argument in favor

Tariffs on newsprint would hurt many community newspapers and publishers that are already struggling and can’t afford a significant increase in costs. Delaying the tariffs while a study is carried out is prudent.

Argument opposed

While keeping community newspapers viable is a worthy goal, tariffs on newsprint are a response to un-competitive trade practices by Canada. Short-term tariffs may lead to a better deal in the long-term.

Impact

Newspaper publishers; businesses and consumers of newspapers; the Commerce Dept.; and the president.

Cost of H.R. 6031

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) introduced this bill to delay tariffs on newsprint that’d raise costs for local newspapers while a study on the economic well-being of the newspaper publishing industry is carried out:

“The ever-increasing cost of production is one of the most common concerns South Dakota’s newspapers raise with me. In recent years, new tariffs on Canadian newsprint have increased paper prices by 20 to 30 percent. That’s significant. A paper that services around 20,000 customers, for instance, could see paper costs rise by about a quarter-million dollars annually, threatening the newspaper’s survival… To help ease the burden, I introduced the PRINT Act in early June. This legislation places a temporary hold on the newspaper tariffs, giving time for the Commerce Department to investigate the negative impact the tariffs have on our hometown papers.”

The Trump administration imposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint after the Commerce Dept. found that Canadian manufacturers were getting government subsidies that allowed them to sell at artificially low prices. The tariffs had been as high as 22%, but were reduced to 16.88%.

This legislation has the support of 38 bipartisan cosponsors, including 30 Republicans and eight Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) Op-Ed
  
• Rapid City Journal
  
• Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers (In Favor)
  

Summary by Eric Revell