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Schumer 'doubling down' on push to reverse newsprint materials duties for North Country newspapers

Posted 7/27/18

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, has released a statement where his office says he is “doubling down” on a push to get the U.S. Department of Commerce to reverse “harmful duties” on …

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Schumer 'doubling down' on push to reverse newsprint materials duties for North Country newspapers

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U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY, has released a statement where his office says he is “doubling down” on a push to get the U.S. Department of Commerce to reverse “harmful duties” on groundwood paper, the raw material used by New York’s “already at-risk” upstate and local newspaper companies for newsprint.

Schumer’s office said this ingredient is not made by any producers in the northeast, and printing companies and newspapers across New York are “already being negatively affected” by Department of Commerce’s preliminary duties on this paper.

He indicated that they would suffer even more should they be made permanent in Commerce’s final determination on Aug. 1, according to the senator’s office.

In addition, Schumer’s office said the meteoric rise of digital media has already pushed many small and regional newspapers to the brink of extinction, and that these unwise and unjust tariffs could push them over the edge. A recent survey from the News Media Alliance of New York newspapers found that, on average, New York newspapers have cut an average of six pages from their publications, according to the senator’s office.

“From the Buffalo News, to the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Syracuse Post-Standard to the Watertown Daily Times, Upstate New York’s hometown papers are fundamental to an informed citizenry, healthy communities and a vibrant democracy. That is why I am doubling down on my push to the U.S. Department of Commerce to reconsider their decision to impose duties on the raw material used by New York’s already at-risk upstate and local newspaper companies,” Schumer said in a prepared statement. “Simply put, their decision is harmful to newspapers in every hometown from Oswego to Long Island – and will lose American jobs and threaten American companies – so the Department of Commerce should reconsider this decision, study the impacts on the domestic industry and find a new way forward.”

Schumer’s office said groundwood paper imports from Canada are primarily used as newsprint, but also as retail inserts by producers in New York. There are 721 newspapers in New York with a print readership of more than 15 million, according to his office. Schumer said constituents are concerned that assessed duties could have a particularly adverse impact in the Northeast region. Moreover, Schumer said that New York newspapers are concerned that due to the predominance of Canadian imports in the Northeast region, the lack of any U.S. groundwood producer in the region and the lack of production capacity in the U.S., duties could dramatically increase their operating costs.

Schumer’s office said he has heard from many in printing and the newspaper industry in New York State and beyond that are worried that they will not be able to absorb these costs and would be forced to cut production and potentially go out of business. In their recent survey, the New Media Alliance found that most newspapers will not be able to pass along the costs to subscribers, that more than half of newspapers reported experiencing newsprint supply shortages, more than 70 percent have reduced the number of pages printed, more than 10 percent have reduced the frequency of publication, and nearly half of newspapers have reduced staff because of the tariffs, according to the senator’s office.

“A permanent tariff could lead to an intensified shift to digital products in the industry, which could harm U.S. groundwood paper producers,” the senator’s news release reads.

Schumer’s office said that with many small and local newspapers already seeing their margins diminished by the rise of digital media, the tariffs on groundwood paper could force them into additional budgetary cuts, and even towards bankruptcy.

Schumer’s office said he first launched his effort to push back against the administration’s paper tariffs in January of this year, when he sounded the alarm and said that the tariffs had the potential to force local newspapers to drastically slash their staffs.