South Dakota newspapers are taking a sigh of relief as the US International Trade Commission rolled back proposed tariffs on Canadian newsprint.
A paper company in Washington state accused Canadian government of dumping raw material newsprint under price.
That resulted in a price increase for print papers and magazines, which started late last year.
Jon Hunter is publisher of the Madison Daily Leader. He says sometime soon the industry hopes to see the tariffs taken off, resulting in lower newsprint prices.
“It’s great news, frankly,” Hunter says. “You can expand it not only to companies that operate newspapers, but really the first amendment and a free press. High prices for all those kind of things would have discouraged and maybe even closed some papers, so it’s good for America.”
Earlier this year, South Dakota’s congressional delegation wrote a letter to the International Trade Commission opposing the tariffs.
Both Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, as well as Congresswoman Kristi Noem signed onto bills that would have suspended the tariffs. Those two applauded the reversal of newsprint tariffs.