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Tariffs hitting newspaper industry

“Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel” is a phrase many have heard.

Along with those ink purchases also comes large rolls of newsprint tonnage — after all those are the two key ingredients of reading your newspaper each morning.

It is that newsprint which has publishers like me across the United States concerned, for if the U.S. government continues on the track it seems destined to, the cost of newsprint will soon skyrocket out of control.

It all is part of the trade wars the Trump administration has found itself immersed in. Last month the U.S. government placed new tariffs on Canadian newsprint. While not all the U.S. customers use Canadian newsprint, the vast majority do — including us. With the tariffs, The Alpena News and others are looking at a projected 30 percent increase in their newsprint pricing.

While practically every newspaper, journalism organization and ironically, U.S. newsprint producer, has joined together to protest the tariffs, it will take months to reverse the order, if government officials even decide that is appropriate. In the meantime this increase will impact operations of thousands of newspapers.

How did these tariffs come about? Norpac, a U.S. newsprint manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest, complained last year that Canadian mills were being unfairly subsidized by their government, making competition unfair. In January the U.S. Commerce Department agreed and a preliminary judgment in their favor was made. A final determination on the issue is expected this fall by the International Trade Commission. In a business that is dominated by Canadian firms, Norpac is one of the last American-owned newsprint mills. Most other U.S. mills are Canadian owned.

If nothing changes and the tariffs remain in place, expect many changes in U.S. newspapers.

Let me turn to a colleague, Paul Tash, chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Co. in Tampa, Fla., to put the issue into some perspective.

“Newspapers remain vital civic assets — nobody else will report on your community with the depth and breadth of a newspaper — but publishing them is not an easy business, and these tariffs will make it even harder.

“These tariffs will hurt our readers, because they create pressure to raise our prices, and they will force publishers to re-examine every other expense. Maybe we will drop some puzzles and comics — no big deal, unless we cut one that is your favorite.”

David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, one of the country’s largest newspaper organizations, has been even more blunt in his assessment of the situation.

“While the big national and regional papers may have less trouble finding the funds to keep their print editions coming, we could see small publishers lose footing, and those tiny local papers are some of the most vital members of our news community. Under the right conditions, those papers can find a way to maintain their footing, but if the newsprint industry can’t support them, those communities will become news deserts, and that’s a future none of us want.”

It’s no secret that for several years now publishing a newspaper has been filled with challenges.

This is but the newest hurdle. I remain optimistic that like the others, The News will find a way to deal with this one. At the same time, I believe our readers need informed about what is going on, and your support of our position would be appreciated when you talk with your elected legislators.

I might buy ink by the barrel, but with this issue my voice isn’t being heard the way I, and we, need it to be.

Bill Speer can be reached via email at bspeer@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 354-3111 ext. 331. Follow Bill on Twitter @billspeer13.

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