The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled Wednesday that imports of Canadian newsprint do not threaten or materially harm the U.S. newsprint industry, a decision that reverses tariffs put in place by the Trump administration earlier this year.
The ITC's ruling comes after the Commerce Department had put in place two sets of duties levied on producers and exporters of uncoated groundwood paper _ the material on which most newspapers are printed _ from Canada.
The first set of duties, levied in January, ranged from 4.42 percent to 9.93 percent of the wholesale price after a preliminary determination from the Commerce Department that suppliers had received financial assistance from the Canadian government. Two months later, another preliminary determination from the Commerce Department led to a separate round of anti-dumping duties of 22.16 percent for some Canadian paper producers and exporters.
Newspaper groups have said the duties led to higher newsprint prices for news organizations, which were already struggling with declining ad revenue. Canadian paper mills provide about 60 percent of the 2.4 million-ton demand for newsprint in the U.S.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
