Mar 25, 2018 3 min read

Tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper.

It’s not exactly the kind of subject that starts a stampede to the ramparts, or generates headlines as readily as Stormy Daniels. But it’s a subject that should concern every newspaper reader, anyone who picks up a book and, ultimately, anyone who cares about the health of our democracy.

Some background: The Trump administration has proposed placing tariffs of up to 32 percent on uncoated groundwood paper. It comes at the behest of a single paper company in Washington state. The proprietors of this firm have argued Canadian companies have been dumping their supplies on the U.S. market for less than their worth. Newspaper publishers are already feeling the pinch – cash deposits are now being collected on the preliminary rate, even though the final determination on the tariffs will not be made until August.

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, countered the tariffs would be “unfair and unwarranted.” She also said they would cost American jobs.

She’s right.

We obviously have a dog in this scrap, but tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper would hurt the newspaper industry. The paper is used for the newsprint the Observer-Reporter and hundreds of other newspapers use to bring the news to your doorstep. While most newspapers have sought in recent years to expand their range into the digital realm, the industry is still reliant on subscribers and advertising dollars that come from the print edition. If the tariffs are put in place, that means costs will rise and a business that has already been challenged by the growth of digital technology will face additional strains.

The same goes for other industries that rely on paper, such as books. Whether it’s easy-to-digest genre fiction or lionized door-stoppers like the best-selling biography of Ulysses S. Grant that came out last fall, increased costs will be passed on to consumers.

It puzzles us that an administration that has repeatedly insisted on its dedication to creating and sustaining American jobs would support a proposal that would quite possibly lead to the elimination of many of them. Keep in mind the tariffs were requested by just one U.S. paper company. We can’t help but wonder if this is yet another avenue for the administration to vent its well-known hostility to the media.

According to Susan Rowell, the publisher of the Lancaster News in South Carolina and the president of the National Newspaper Association, “Newsprint is the second largest expense for small newspapers after human resource costs. A decision by the federal government to impose tariffs on our paper supply would imperil our news-gathering missions and put jobs in jeopardy at our newspapers and at many other organizations and communities that rely upon a healthy newspaper.”

The media industry right now is in a state of flux. Other “legacy” institutions, such as television and radio outlets, have also been tested by the internet. But newspapers are at the heart of how a community gets its news. Newspapers are how people find out about school board meetings, sports crimes or worthy community endeavors. They are crucial for citizens to be fully informed and engaged.

A coalition of industry groups, including the American Society of News Editors and the National Newspaper Association, have banded together to oppose the tariffs. We believe newspaper readers should add their own voices to the chorus.