OPINION
BY DAVE PRICE
Each day Submit Editor
Expensive President Trump: Your 25% tariff on Canadian imports is because of start on Wednesday. I’d such as you to cease or delay the tariff on Canadian newsprint, the paper used for printing newspapers. This tariff may have a devastating affect on the finances of my newspaper and 1000’s of different group newspapers throughout the USA.
Neighborhood newspapers like ours are very important to readers who wish to keep knowledgeable and to small companies who depend on newspapers for promoting. They depend upon us to get their promoting message out to prospects. And, dollar-for-dollar, we’re a extra price environment friendly promoting medium than something on-line, together with Google and Fb. Companies typically flip to us for promoting when their on-line campaigns fail.
Canada takes benefit
I agree with you that Canada has been profiting from American paper producers with unfair subsidies to Canadian mills. These subsidies have allowed the Canadians to promote paper merchandise, together with newsprint, at costs far under what American mills can cost. This has pushed many American paper mills out of enterprise.
A few years in the past, Canada was a minor participant within the paper-producing enterprise. However right this moment 80% of the newsprint utilized by U.S. newspapers comes from Canada. That’s as a result of they’ll promote paper at decrease costs due to their subsidies.
If the enjoying area have been even, you’d see extra U.S. mills moving into the enterprise of manufacturing newsprint, leading to market costs.
Too sudden a transfer
However imposing a 25% tariff on Wednesday is just too sudden a transfer — American mills will be unable to ramp up manufacturing to satisfy demand, forcing newspapers to purchase paper from Canada at costs 25% larger than right this moment. The fee enhance will equal what we pay a reporter. Multiply that by 6,000 group newspapers throughout the U.S., and you may see the impact your tariff may have.
Many newspapers received’t be capable of take in this price enhance. Revenue margins within the information enterprise are skinny already. After payroll, the most important expense of a group newspaper is newsprint.
Please cease or delay these proposed tariffs on newsprint. Consider all of the communities in the USA that shall be left and not using a group newspaper if this worth enhance happens.
Editor Dave Worth’s column seems on Mondays.
