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Schumer, Faso among officials calling for end to newsprint tariffs
Richard Moody is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media elected officials from both major parties are calling President Donald Trump to end tariffs on Canadian paper commonly used in newsprint, calling the policy an attack on the newspaper industry. “Community-oriented newspapers have long been the lifeblood of small towns and cities across upstate New York,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer wrote in an op-ed piece July 23. “In this brutally competitive media landscape, our community papers already operate on razor-thin margins..." Schumer warned that the U.S. Commerce Department's proposed permanent tariff on the specialty paper would have "massive negative impacts across the whole American newsprint industry and its local supply chain.” U.S. Rep. John Faso, Republican of Kinderhook, said, “People across the United States depend on smaller local newspapers to know what is going on in their communities. These tariffs threaten the financial viability of smaller newspapers, which already operate on very thin margins by raising the cost of newsprint. Congress should overturn the newsprint tariff, if President Trump fails to reverse course on this unreasonable action.” The U.S. International Trade Commission heard testimony from various lawmakers opposed to the proposal, July 17. The commission will vote on imposing permanent duties on groundwood paper Aug. 28. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.