Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, both of Maine, introduced a bill Monday that would suspend import taxes on newsprint, which they say is needed to assist the dying newspaper industry.
“I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill to fully evaluate the economic impact of these tariffs before they harm our local newspapers and printing industries,” Collins, R-Maine said.
King, an Independent who votes with Democrats, said suspending the import taxes is necessary because the industry is operating on “razor-thin margins,” which has already jeopardized jobs and community access to news.
The Department of Commerce slapped tariffs on the material as an anti-dumping duty in response to a complaint from a single paper mill.
But newspaper publishers complain the measure is harming the fragile industry, forcing some newsprint mills to close.
The Collins-King bill would postpone the tariffs pending a requirement that the Department of Commerce study “the economic wellbeing, health, and vitality of the newsprint industry and the local newspaper publishing industry in the United States,” and report the findings to President Trump and Congress.
The bill has eight co-sponsors.
The legislation, King said, “would help us better understand the damaging consequences of the … decision to impose duties and help ensure local newspapers don’t bear an undue burden from these misguided tariffs, so people in Maine and in rural towns across America can continue to receive their local news from hometown papers.”
