WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department said on Thursday that it would proceed with tariffs on Canadian newsprint, a blow to an already-struggling American newspaper industry.

The tariffs are somewhat lower than what the department initially imposed, offering publishers a small reprieve. The agency said it would cap the tariffs at 16.88 percent, down from 22 percent, and apply them to just one Canadian manufacturer, Catalyst Paper Company. But the Commerce Department said it would also impose tariffs of up to 9.81 percent on several Canadian paper companies to counter subsidies that those manufacturers receive from the government.

While the tariffs are not as severe as many in the industry had feared, much of the damage has already been done. The higher tariffs went into effect in January, after the Commerce Department issued a preliminary decision siding with a paper company in Washington State, which accused Canadian manufacturers of unfairly benefiting from government subsidies that allowed them to sell newsprint at artificially low prices.

In response, newspapers across the country, already struggling to maintain their bottom lines, have cut staff members and reduced their print offerings. The Tampa Bay Times and The Salt Lake Tribune have both blamed tariffs for layoffs. The Tampa Bay Times, which won two Pulitzer Prizes in 2016 for local and investigative reporting, laid off 50 employees directly as a result of the tariffs in April, its chairman and chief executive officer said in a statement. The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton, N.C., said recently that it would no longer be able to print the Sunday comics.