Trump’s tariff war with Canada could deal a major blow to New England’s print newspapers. Here’s why.

President Trump’s trade war with Canada is threatening to increase the cost of newsprint — the paper on which newspapers are printed — to the point where some outlets may have to cancel print editions, cut staff, or close down altogether. Some publishers said this could be the final blow to print newspapers that have long suffered from years of declining readership.

“I’m left with very few levers to control costs,” said Todd Smith, the fourth generation owner of the Caledonian-Record. “We’re as lean as we can be.”

While Trump’s planned tariffs are expected to also affect prices on products ranging from lumber to craft beer, it could have an outsized impact on New England newspapers. While more than 80 percent of newsprint used by US newspapers comes from Canada, many New England papers source all of their newsprint from Canadian mills.

Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on many imports from Canada and Mexico in early March before quickly postponing them, following stock market slumps due to economic concerns of a trade war as well as retaliatory tariffs from the two countries. He said at the time that the tariffs would go into effect April 2.

Trump has not made final decisions on the tariffs, according to a statement from the White House. The administration said it is committed to improving domestic manufacturing and industry, and that Trump has signed executive orders expanding timber and lumber production in the US.

While the full scope of the tariffs remains unclear, industry groups such as the Virginia-based News/Media Alliance, which advocates on behalf of its member news outlets, are asking members to be prepared, said Holly Lubart, the organization’s vice president of government affairs.

It’s not the first time the industry has dealt with newsprint tariffs from Canada. Tariffs imposed on the product in 2018 led to newsprint price hikes, layoffs and print cuts, and closures of entire publications.

Rolls of newsprint that were made in Canada are seen inside the Newspapers of New England printing press. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

Newsprint runs through a printing press. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

The chaotic rollout of the Trump administration’s latest tariffs has already had an effect on newspapers across the country. The 157-year-old Cortland Standard newspaper in New York announced in mid-March it would cease publication in part because of the expected tariffs. And Lubart said some American publishing companies have already announced price hikes north of 15 percent.

“Many of these companies are concerned or see it as an opportunity to get more business, and so they’re already increasing prices,” she said.

Locally, newspapers and printing facilities have been stockpiling extra paper and discussing ways to mitigate costs if the tariffs remain in effect for a prolonged period.

Jim Falzone, publisher of North of Boston Media Group, which includes newspapers such as The Eagle-Tribune and also runs a commercial printing business, said the company has told its commercial customers to expect 10 to 16 percent increases for its printing costs. As for its own publications, he hopes the tariffs are short-lived.

“At least initially, we’re not going to make any knee-jerk cuts to staff,” he said. “We’re going to try and ride it out as long as we can.”

The Globe, which has a printing facility in Taunton where it publishes the Globe and other papers through commercial printing services, works with a newsprint supplier that has mills in Canada and the US, spokesperson Carla Kath said.

“It is too early to determine the impact,” Kath said in a statement. “We are committed to our print business.”

For some organizations, though, there’s no easy alternative to paying a premium for Canadian newsprint.

There are only a handful of companies in the U.S. that produce newsprint, but some don’t produce the same type of newsprint manufactured in Canada and none are located near the northeast, Lubart said. And it’s unlikely that the tariffs will spur an increase in American newsprint production, given its sinking demand in the digital age.

Newsprint is still typically the second-highest expense behind payroll for newspaper companies. And it’s important to serving some audiences that haven’t fully made the jump to print.

“The print edition exists now almost entirely for my most loyal, older readers who have not, despite my every urging, made a transition to digital,” said the Caledonian-Record’s Smith, who just last year had to raise the price of single-copy papers from $1 to $1.50 due in large part to declining advertising revenue.

“How am I going to serve these people who have served us well for the past 100 years?” he added.

And while internet access has improved in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the region of Vermont served by the Caledonian-Record, connectivity is still much lower than in denser areas. That makes the six-times-a-week print edition of the Caledonian-Record a necessity for many local readers.

“It creates an opportunity for people to have a connection to all of the surrounding towns,” said Jody Fried, executive director of Catamount Film & Arts in St. Johnsbury. “Rural areas are disconnected by the physical space of mountains and rivers, but in each of these villages there’s country stores or grocery stores, gas stations — and they have the newspaper.”

Brian Desjardins, a pressman, looks over a paper inside the Newspapers of New England printing press. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

The Valley News, The Caledonian Record, and The Concord Monitor are all printed at the Newspapers of New England printing press. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

While print readership has declined overall — US newspaper circulation is down 65 percent since 2005, according to a state of local news report from Northwestern University in Illinois— some local news startups such as the Marblehead Current and Belmont Voice have launched print newspapers alongside websites and digital newsletters.

“It helped us really become embedded within the community of Belmont by having the print paper go out for free every week,” said Bob Rifkin, co-president of the Belmont Voice board of directors. He added that price hikes from the tariffs will hurt, but he expects to be able to press on.

“We just have to absorb it for now,” he said.

For many others, though, the tariffs could pose a huge threat. Aaron Julien, executive chairman of the Newspapers of New England, which publishes the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire and prints other papers, including the Caledonian-Record, said long-term tariffs on newsprint could “reset the world of journalism,” especially on the local level.

“We don’t cover national stuff, we cover city hall, we cover new businesses opening up and what’s going on down the street, and news about your world around you,” Julien said. “It has the potential to make that harder than it is now, which would be a shame.”

Aidan Ryan can be reached at aidan.ryan@globe.com. Follow him @aidanfitzryan.