Trade war heats up over Canadian newsprint sold to U.S.

By Brent Jang
The Globe and Mail
November 27, 2017
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States

Stop the presses – U.S. paper mills are upset over what they see as subsidized Canadian newsprint being used by American newspaper publishers. While the softwood-lumber dispute has strained Canada-U.S. trade relations, a separate fight is brewing over other products that Canadian forestry mills sell south of the border, notably uncoated groundwood paper, such as newsprint. …Norpac complains that U.S. paper makers are being hurt by Canadian groundwood… The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to issue its preliminary ruling on imposing countervailing duties by Jan. 8 and anti-dumping duties by Jan. 16. …Canadian paper makers and U.S. newspaper publishers argue that the dispute isn’t about trade. They point out that demand for newsprint has fallen sharply over the past decade, especially as readers shift to digital alternatives such as laptops, tablets and cellphones.

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