Famers Get $12 Billion But Tariffs Harm USA Printers As Much As Farmers

An American Printer Commentary
By Andy & Julie Plata
Co-CEOs, the OutputLinks Communications Group

Printers, one of the largest segments of the USA’s manufacturing base, are absorbing consistently escalating costs due to price increase and tariffs on everything from ink, paper, plates ….

Print employs over 600,000 jobs across the entire USA print and publishing industry. Should an industry of this size not be at the forefront of all the companies qualifying for bailouts?

The Washington Post: Layoffs from Trump tariffs are piling up. So are calls for more bailouts.

Although the government says the increased costs of tariffs are short-term pain that will end with positive results, how long can printers hold out without suffering fatal financial damage?

So, printers will feel the pain, but what can they gain from the tariff wars?

bailout commentary 1

If the end-goal is to have other countries reduce their tariffs to allow more of our goods to be sold there, how does that benefit printers who primarily serve the USA market? Has your company sold very much overseas?

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Small nd mid-size printers are especially at risk because they cannot absorb costs or shift production overseas.

  • If printers raise prices, the move to digital social media will accelerate which will create long-term pain.
  • If they cut staff, job turnaround and quality will suffer.

As printers look over their equipment they realize how little of it is USA made. Then one must begin to wonder what happens if the trade war begins directly affecting the cost of presses and parts.

 

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An organization that is trying to help is STOPP (Stop Tariffs on Printers & Publishers), a coalition of associations and companies fighting newsprint tariffs.

Platas commentary picThanks for reading. Your thoughts on this topic are appreciated.

Promoting print tech for the digital age,
Andy & Julie Plata
Co-CEOs, American Printer and the OutputLinks Communications Group

Stay tuned for our continuing Commentary on the changing tariff environment and their effect on the print industry.

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