Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Congresswoman Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., applauded the decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) on Wednesday, August 29, that reversed the tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper imported from Canada, which increased the cost of newsprint used for newspapers.

The USITC, an independent federal agency that rules on antidumping and countervailing duty investigations, made the determination that the uncoated groundwood from Canada does not injure the U.S. industry.

“It is a relief that the U.S. International Trade Commission has ended these tariffs that were already hurting our newspapers in Wyoming and the communities they serve,” Enzi said. “Our local papers play a vital role in the state and shouldn’t have to struggle to survive because of these tariffs that were being pushed by one company.”

“The International Trade Commission made the right decision today to eliminate tariffs on imported newsprint,” Barrasso said. “Families in Wyoming rely on their local newspapers for coverage of local and national news, as well as community events. These punishing tariffs have significantly increased costs for publishers, hampered production and threatened good jobs at newspapers across our state. Now that they have been removed, Wyoming’s newspapers can renew their focus on keeping communities informed and up to date.”

“I'm pleased the International Trade Commission heard the concerns of Wyoming newspapers and unanimously voted to reverse the tariffs on uncoated groundwood paper,” Cheney said. “Local newspapers in Wyoming are small businesses that rely on uncoated groundwood paper to provide essential local and national news coverage to communities, sometimes as their only news source. The ITC made the right decision."

The Wyoming delegation submitted testimony last month to the USITC asking them to end the tariffs after taking into account the devastating effects they could have on local papers.