Protecting Rational Incentives in Newsprint Trade Act of 2018 or the PRINT Act

This bill directs the Department of Commerce to conduct a study of, and to report to Congress regarding, the economic well-being, health, and vitality of the newsprint industry and the local newspaper publishing industry in the United States, including an assessment of:

• the trends in demand for newsprint and traditional printed newspapers, in demand for digital or online consumption of news, and in the U.S. pulp and paper industry and the effect of declining demand for newsprint on the health of such industry;
• measures undertaken by printers and newspaper publishers to reduce costs in response to increased costs for newsprint in the United States, and whether such measures have harmed local news coverage or reduced employment in the newspaper and publishing industries;
• whether measures undertaken by publishers and printers to reduce costs have harmed local businesses that advertise in local newspapers; and
• the global production capacity for newsprint in light of the declining demand for newsprint.

Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission may not give effect to an affirmative determination in an antidumping or countervailing duty investigation relating to imports of uncoated groundwood paper until the President certifies that he has received the report and has concluded that giving effect to the determination is in the economic interest of the United States.

Until such time as the President issues the certification, the administering authority shall order a rate of zero for deposits posted in such an investigation.