Trade policy could devastate local newspapers
Trade wars are rarely effective as a grand strategy and allow our leaders to create winners and losers by pitting one sector of the economy against another. If you are reading this editorial in the print version of the Las Cruces Sun-News, you could be among the losers.
New Mexico’s entire congressional delegation – U.S. Sens. Tom Udall, D, and Martin Heinrich, D, and Reps. Steve Pearce, R, Michelle Lujan Grisham, D, and Ben Ray Lujan, D, recently joined together to write a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urging him not to approve additional tariffs on newsprint.
In January, the Commerce Department imposed import duties on Canadian groundwood paper, a kind of newsprint used by newspapers across the country. Now, they are considering additional tariffs that would dramatically increase the cost of newsprint.
Those new tariffs, along with increased shipping costs, have the potential to drive many smaller, local newspapers out of business, the members of Congress warned.
“The newspaper industry is facing duties on Canadian newsprint and changes to the cost of shipping, which could be catastrophic for publishers in the southwest,” they warned.
Of course, what our delegation sees as catastrophic might be seen differently by an administration that has referred to the national media as “enemies of the people” and routinely dismisses negative reporting as “fake news.”
We have no way of knowing what the motivation is behind any of the specific tariffs being imposed, besides a general feeling by the administration that our nation has been taken advantage of in prior trade agreements.
But, it would not be out of character for this administration to selectively target industries for punishing tariffs.
If that were to happen, it would likely have little effect on industry giants like the New York Times, the Washington Post and other national publications whose reporting as so often angered the president. But, it could be devastating to local, small-town newspapers where so many people get their community news.
The congressional delegated noted that Secretary Ross had the authority to take a second look at the issue and reconsider all of those who could be harmed.
"We urge you to use your discretion to revisit the domestic industry’s support of this petition and consider the adverse impact to domestic manufacturers and publishers before proceeding with these investigations," the delegation wrote.
We hope Secretary Ross heeds that advice. Newspaper readers throughout the country should not be victimized by a trade policy that fails to take into account all of those who will be impacted.
