WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today thanked the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for voting unanimously to drop tariffs on newsprint from Canada. Wicker testified against the tariffs in July, telling the ITC the tariffs were harmful to local papers and domestic newsprint producers, including those with operations in Mississippi.

“I am proud to fight for Mississippi’s paper production and newspaper jobs, and I am thankful the ITC agreed to drop these harmful tariffs,” Wicker said. “This decision means these unnecessary import duties will no longer affect a wide range of industries, which employ more than 600,000 Americans.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Commerce Department imposed tariffs, as high as 30 percent, on newsprint in response to claims by North Pacific Paper Company (NORPAC), a single paper mill operating in the Pacific Northwest. Other than NORPAC, the U.S. paper industry largely opposed the tariffs because they harmed the industry’s primary customers. 

The Mississippi Press Association, and the 110 newspapers they represent, also opposed newsprint tariffs. Both the Vicksburg Post and the Natchez Democrat cut production to five days per week because of preliminary tariffs.