Jeff Mayo had been preparing for this for weeks. In February, when President Donald Trump first announced a 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, Mayo, a third-generation newspaper printer in Oklahoma, put in an order of Canadian paper.
But by the time the tariffs actually went into effect last week — if only temporarily — his careful planning wasn’t of much use. As printers and manufacturers scrambled to secure raw materials before the price went up, trucking shortages delayed shipments for everyone. “Even if we had the paper ready, we couldn’t get it on a truck,” Mayo told CJR last week, before the tariffs were once again suspended, until April 2. “Everyone’s trying to do the same thing.”
