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“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Senate section on pages S2644-S2645 on May 14, 2018.
The Department includes the Census Bureau, which is used to determine many factors about American life. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department is involved in misguided foreign trade policies and is home to many unneeded programs.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
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 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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