U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has followed up a phone conversation with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross with a letter again asking that Ross suspend tariffs on Canadian paper widely used by American newspapers.
“Newspapers and a free press are a bedrock of our democracy,” Casey, D-Scranton, wrote to Ross. “Local newspapers in particular, whose reporters uphold the responsibility of executing the duties of the ‘fourth estate’ for their communities, must have the resources available to faithfully report and transmit the news.”
Coming after a May 16 call between the two men, Casey reiterated the concerns he has heard from Pennsylvania newspapers about the tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper, used by newspapers and book publishers. The senator again asked Ross to suspend the tariffs “to avoid adverse impacts to our newspaper industry.”
“I can’t stress enough that these tariffs threaten to put small newspapers out of business and that will cut off many readers from their local news,” said Times/Ledger Publisher Tina Bequeath. “The fact that Sen. Casey has joined other legislators who have come out against these proposed tariffs is very much appreciated.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce imposed the tariffs earlier this year and they have caused newsprint costs to increase by 20 percent, with analysts predicting they could rise another 10 percent or more. Times Executive Editor Lisa Micco wrote in May that newsprint costs for The Times and Ellwood City Ledger could increase by nearly $188,000 annually with the tariffs.
Late last month, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh County, co-sponsored the Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade (PRINT) Act, which would suspend the tariffs pending a 90-day review of the economic health of the newsprint business and local newspaper publishing industry by the Commerce Department.
Once that study is complete, the president would be required to review it and certify that a tariff on uncoated groundwood paper is in the country’s economic interests.
“American companies must be allowed to adequately and fairly source materials, especially when those items are not produced domestically,” Toomey said in announcing his co-sponsorship. Toomey has also split from President Donald Trump on other tariffs leveled by the administration.
“I am pleased to see that our call to action by our readers and staff has been taken seriously by Sen. Casey and Sen. Toomey,” Bequeath said. “Our state is home to 76 daily newspapers and about 150 nondailies that serve communities of all sizes. These tariffs cannot be absorbed and will force us to cut costs, which will mean more job losses in the newspaper industry.”
There is also legislation that mirrors the PRINT Act in the House after U.S. Reps. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Charlie Crist, D-Fla., introduced H.R. 6031.
Neither U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-12, Sewickley, nor U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-18, Mount Lebanon, are co-sponsors on the bill. Both lawmakers’ offices said Friday that they are reviewing the newly introduced legislation.
Rothfus and Lamb are running in the general election against each other in the new 17th Congressional District, which includes Beaver County, part of Cranberry Township in Butler County and a large portion of Allegheny County.