Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville (Photo — Adam Colver, Post-Star)

We’re grateful to North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik for co-writing a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and International Trade Commission Rhonda Schmidtlein protesting their proposed tariffs on newsprint imported from Canada. The Trump administration ignored the protests of the entire newspaper industry to heed a single U.S. paper company’s wishes for the tariffs, which would total up to 32 percent — a massive cost spike passed on to publishers from coast to coast.

The letter from Reps. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Stefanik, R-Willsboro, articulated that this move would hurt everyone involved. For newspapers, they wrote, it could “destabilize the industry and accelerate the decline of print news media.” (We are more bullish than they on the future of print, but we agree that a tariff such as this could crush those hopes.) It would also hurt the paper industry — including the company that asked for the tariffs — because it will prompt many newspapers to cut page width and page count, thus buying less paper.

“This prospect for continued declines in the consumption of newsprint will signal to suppliers that they should shift production to more profitable grades of paper, leaving newspapers without a supply to print the news of the day,” the reps wrote.

The tariffs would also damage everyday people and splinter communities by damaging their shared sources of local information.

“Local journalism is the core of communities’ access to information about their local government, economy, and community activities,” the reps wrote.

Furthermore, they wrote, the tariffs would “undermine the values to uphold a free and accessible press.” Such values “should not be infringed upon by the claims of a single U.S. producer.”

These tariffs are unwise on every level, and therefore we wonder how they got this far. Some have suggested the intent is political, part of President Trump’s aggression toward the news media in general, but if so, it’s foolish. The tariffs would hurt newspapers whose editorials lean every which way — and besides, those papers’ real function and purpose is not to sway voters. It is to inform, enlighten, entertain and strengthen community bonds.

We thank our member of Congress for recognizing that and standing up for it. We don’t agree with her on everything, but we appreciate that she has generally been attentive to the needs of businesses in New York’s 21st Congressional District.