President Trump set to impose tariffs on Canada next week

Feb 27, 2025

NNA Member Alert — Feb. 27, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lynne Lance, executive director, lynne@nna.org

As promised, NNA continues to monitor the tariff situation closely. Reports indicate that President Trump has stated he will impose the 25% tariff on imports on Canada next week on March 4, 2025. This will increase the cost of importing newsprint from Canadian mills and likely lead to price increases for newsprint sourced domestically.

This tariff action differs from the one undertaken by the Department of Commerce and International Trade Administration in 2018 in response to a complaint over Canadian newsprint prices. In this case, the tariffs implemented today are unrelated to any specific dispute over newsprint and are an across-the-board action against all Canadian and Mexican imports. In addition, this type of tariff does not afford the opportunity for affected parties to challenge the duties in an adjudicated notice and comment process. Litigation and public pressure are the only options address the tariffs unless the United States and Canadian governments can negotiate a resolution. Given the range of products impacted, broad-based opposition to these tariffs can be expected and the administration has a great deal of flexibility to modify the tariff structure and the power to act quickly.

NNA is well aware of the challenge increased costs for newsprint will have on member publishers. We encourage NNA members to contact their U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators to relay the hardship this action will cause and ask them to request a newsprint exemption from the administration. NNA’s issue brief on newsprint tariffs can be viewed here.

We will continue to coordinate with other business groups to participate in any broad-based opposition efforts and are evaluating options to support litigation against the tariffs by business groups.