密歇根新闻广播 新关税让密歇根报纸行业面临危险

New tariffs² are putting some Michigan newspapers and printers at risk of going out of business.

There's more than a little irony³ in the fact that a state which built paper mills all over, no longer makes the kind of paper that newspapers use.

"The last Michigan producer was Manistique Paper and they closed in 2011. There's actually only five American mills that are producing the type of paper that newspapers use," said Julie Stafford with Stafford Printing and Publishing.

She and her brother Rob Stafford own the printing plant and publish the Daily News based in Greenville, Michigan.

U.S. consumption of newsprint has dropped 75 percent in the U.S. That's why many of those American paper mills closed or switched to making other kinds of paper products such as corrugated⁴ boxboard to supply Amazon and other online retailers⁵.

So, the Staffords now buy their newsprint from Canada.

"There's just not the capacity with the American mills to supply all of the printers in this country," Julie Stafford said.

But, there is a new cost to buying imported paper. Recent tariffs have been placed on Canadian newsprint.

This all started when One Rock Capital, an investment/equity firm, bought a paper mill in the state of Washington. It complained to the U.S. Commerce Department that Canada was unfairly subsidizing newsprint. The Trump⁶ administration agreed and started out with a temporary six percent tariff¹ in March. Then it increased dramatically.

"Our price, newsprint has gone up about 30 percent. So, it's been a pretty big hit," Rob Stafford said.

The total tariff is right at 32 percent now. This is not just on the paper Stafford Printing and Publishing buys; it's on all Canadian newsprint which is about 60 percent of the newsprint used in the U.S.

It should be noted⁷ the other paper mills producing newsprint in the U.S. have not joined in the trade complaint against Canada. In fact, three of the other four are partially⁸ or wholly owned by Canadian companies.

Rob Stafford says they've had to pass along two price increases already.

"We just put another one in the mail last week for another increase in August. So, it's been tough on us and our clients," Stafford said.

Those clients include such publications as the Grand Haven⁹ Tribune, Lansing's City Pulse, the Ann Arbor¹⁰ Observer, two Spanish language papers – one in Detroit, one in Grand Rapids – and an Amish newspaper, among several others.

"It's about $2400 more a paper truck. And we get on average about ten truckloads of paper a month," Julie Stafford explained.

That's $288,000 a year for one printer in Greenville, Michigan.

Any printer or newspaper which gets is newsprint from Canada – again, because there's not enough production in the U.S. – is being hit by the tariffs.

While some larger newspapers have gone mostly digital, for the papers serving rural areas, newsprint –paper – is still the best medium. Julie Stafford says broadband internet is not available in much of the rural area her paper serves.

"Paper is our business. You know, we made a decision about eight years ago that we can't compete with the wire and all of the digital stuff that's going on so we're going to focus on local, local, local. I have seven to eight local stories in a newspaper in a day times six days a week. I think Washington should think about that kind of thing," she said.

Her brother, Rob, says there are basically two necessary elements for putting out a newspaper: people and paper. Right now the newspapers are trying to cut paper.

"They're really watching their page count. Some of our clients have been used to running two sections in their newspaper, but now they're dialing back to only one section. Some have trimmed quantity. Other clients are looking at reducing the size of their products," he said.

Rob and Julie Stafford say this could lead to more newspapers and printers going out of business across the nation.

"I hope it's a very short term problem and I hope that Washington realizes the impact of these tariffs and what it's doing to the publishing business and journalism¹¹ as a whole," he said.

Publishers are making their case to the International Trade Commission. There's a hearing today. That commission can reject the tariffs, but it's not clear that will happen given the current political atmosphere.

1 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

2 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

3 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

4 corrugated   

adj.波纹的；缩成皱纹的；波纹面的；波纹状的v.（使某物）起皱褶(corrugate的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• a corrugated iron roof 波纹铁屋顶
• His brow corrugated with the effort of thinking. 他皱着眉头用心地思考。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

11 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。