[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 78 (Monday, May 14, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2644-S2645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. King, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Jones, Mrs. 
        Fischer, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Moran, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Isakson, 
        and Mrs. Capito):
  S. 2835. A bill to require a study of the well-being of the newsprint 
and publishing industry in the United States, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr, President, I rise today to introduce the Protecting 
Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade Act of 2018, also known as the 
PRINT Act, which seeks to address an urgent crisis facing printers and 
publishers in the United States. I am very pleased to be joined by 
Senator King and a bipartisan and distinguished group of cosponsors, 
including Senators Blunt, Jones, Fischer, McCaskill, Moran, Wicker, 
Isakson, and Capito, to advance this legislation, which is endorsed by 
publishers representing more than 600,000 American jobs.
  Earlier this year, the Department of Commerce instituted import taxes 
on certain types of paper imported by the U.S. printing and publishing 
industry from Canada. The paper--technically known as uncoated 
groundwood paper, but better known as newsprint--is used by newspapers, 
book publishers, and numerous other commercial printers in the United 
States. These import taxes are being advanced under the principle of 
trade enforcement to protect the domestic paper industry. It is 
telling, however, that nearly all of the U.S. paper industry opposes 
these import taxes, including the large trade association representing 
the entire industry, the American Forest and Paper Association. The 
paper industry opposes the import taxes because they threaten to 
decimate the paper industry's customers and drive printers and 
publishers out of business forever.
  The import taxes are as high as 32 percent on some products. The 
printing and publishing industry is already facing a severe economic 
threat from the overall trends in the publishing market, including the 
shift to digital consumption of news. The printing and publishing 
industry simply cannot absorb the increased costs of paper caused by 
the tariffs. The Tampa Bay

[[Page S2645]]

Times, for example, has announced that the tariffs are increasing the 
newspaper's operating costs by $3 million annually and, as a result, it 
must lay off around 50 employees. Other newspapers across the Nation 
face the threat of layoffs and closures, particularly smaller 
publications and businesses serving local communities. The Swift County 
Monitor News in Benson, Minnesota, reported a 43 percent net increase 
in its newsprint costs from the duties. But let's not forget the impact 
of these tariffs on such an important profession in our society. The 
Executive Editor of the Lewiston Sun-Journal and seven Western Maine 
weekly newspapers put it this way: ``While tariffs are going to cost 
the newspapers in real dollars, the real cost will be to the mission of 
journalists and the ability of newspapers--of all sizes--to carry on 
critical work in the public interest.''
  Mr. President, I strongly support the robust enforcement of our trade 
laws to protect U.S. interests, but these new import taxes are having 
the opposite effect. The import tariffs are dramatically increasing 
costs for publishers, accelerating the decline of local and regional 
papers across the Nation, and undermining the United States paper 
industry's customer base without any chance of recovery.
  I trust that the Department of Commerce has accurately applied the 
trade enforcement remedies in this case, but that is exactly the 
problem. The antidumping and countervailing duty trade remedies are not 
equipped to address a situation like this where the import duties will 
actually harm the industry they were intended to protect.
  That is the reason that we are introducing the PRINT Act. Our bill 
would suspend the import taxes on this paper while the Department of 
Commerce examines the health of--and effects on--the printing and 
publishing industry. It is important to note that the legislation does 
not propose that Congress step in and substitute its judgment. The 
President would retain full authority to implement the duties after the 
Commerce Department completes its study.
  Moreover, the legislation is only a pause. It is designed to ensure 
that the government makes decisions about these import tariffs with an 
understanding of all the anticipated and potential collateral effects 
on the U.S. industry and jobs.
  Mr. President, this bill is both sensible and urgently needed. 
Printers and publishers throughout the country have indicated that the 
import taxes are threatening irreparable harm to their businesses. 
Adoption of the PRINT Act would ensure that we evaluate fully the 
impact of these tariffs before the duties kill American jobs for good. 
I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this important 
legislation.

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