Members of the printing, publishing and paper-producing industries, which employ more than 600,000 workers, have formed Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers, a coalition to fight proposed countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties on imports of Canadian uncoated groundwood papers, including newsprint and other papers. These preliminary duties, which were assessed by the Department of Commerce in January and March, respectively, are the result of a petition filed by one company, North Pacific Paper Co. The STOPP coalition is concerned these countervailing duties and anti-dumping duties, which range up to 32 percent combined, will saddle U.S. printing and publishing businesses with increased costs and threaten thousands of American jobs, according to a press release.

The coalition is asking the International Trade Commission and U.S. Congress to reject the newsprint tariffs and protect U.S. jobs. With the announcement, STOPP has launched a new website — www.stopnewsprinttariffs.org — and is inviting other interested parties to join in the fight to overturn the tariffs.

Members of the STOPP coalition include: American Society of News Editors, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Association of American Publishers, Association for Print Technologies, Book Manufacturer’s Institute, Catalyst Paper, Inland Press Association, Kruger, Local Search Association, National Newspaper  Association, News Media Alliance, Printing Industries of America, Quad Graphics, Rayonier Advance Materials, Resolute Forest Products, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, Trusted Media Brands (formerly Readers Digest Association), Valassis Communications and Worzalla, among others.

“Newsprint is the second largest expense for small newspapers after human resource costs,” said Susan Rowell, publisher of the Lancaster (South Carolina) News and president of the National Newspaper Association, in the release. “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 companies in our communities that rely upon a healthy newspaper.”

“The bottom line is these tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper would not protect domestic paper producers. Paper manufacturers are not able to absorb the cost of the tariff and have already let it be known that the tariff will be passed on to U.S. consumers,” said Joel Quadracci, chairman, president and CEO of Quad Graphics. “This will result in driving up the costs of print and force an even faster migration to digital options at a time when our industry is already being severely disrupted. This will result in the loss of U.S. jobs. In the case of rural residents with no broadband access, they will end up underserved with no newspaper either.”

Allan Adler, general counsel and executive vice president for the Association of American Publishers, said: “The U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce should consider how protective duties can harm some important U.S. industries while protecting others.

“The Association of American Publishers  joined the STOPP Coalition to address book publishing concerns that unjustified countervailing duties in the pending ITC proceedings regarding Canadian uncoated groundwood paper imports could cause material injury to U.S. book publishing and literacy programs for young readers by raising the cost of papers used to produce inexpensive paperback books for children that help advance early childhood reading development.”

“Publishers are already feeling the negative consequences of a tighter newsprint market and higher prices because of these preliminary newsprint duties,” said David Chavern, president and CEO of News Media Alliance. “We will turn over every stone to fight these duties so that there is no disruption in the flow of news and information to the citizens who rely upon printed newspapers throughout the country.”