Iltalehti describes the Wednesday announcement by US President Donald Trump that he will impose 25 percent import tariffs on the European Union as a "bombshell".
The paper points to comments made as early as in January by the director of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, Timo Vuori, saying that at worst, tariffs could trigger a trade war. He said even a 20 percent tariff would hit hard in Finland, which is increasingly dependent on US trade.
Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns) also criticised Trump's tariff rhetoric earlier this month when she wrote on X that "make America rich again" will run into popular opposition at some point when products such as bulk Chinese goods start to cost more.
Helsingin Sanomat reports that OP Group Chief Economist Reijo Heiskanen reacted to Trump's announcement by saying that if these tariffs are implemented and the EU imposes counter-tariffs, it will affect economic development on both sides of the Atlantic.
"If this happens and the EU responds, economic development will inevitably be weaker than expected in the US, Europe and in Finland," he posted on X.
According to Heiskanen, this could mean that economic growth in Finland this year and next could perhaps only be around 1 percent.
Defence policy report
Most morning papers report that a plenary session of Parliament will start a debate Thursday on the government's latest defence policy report before it is formally submitted to the parliamentary committees.
A point of interest brought up by Helsingin Sanomat is statement earlier this week to the foreign affairs committee by Tuomas Forsberg, a professor of international politics at the University of Tampere and a Nato researcher, in which he said that the defence report should be partly revised because of the radical change in US policy since President Donald Trump's rise to power.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Wednesday declined to take a position on whether the defence review should be partly rewritten.
In a separate item, HS reports on an address Wednesday by Finland's Defence Forces Commander, General Janne Jaakkola in which he took up recent changes in the security environment.
Speaking at an event organised by the National Defence Training Association of Finland, Jaakkola said he believes that Finland has made the right decisions on fundamental defence issues, should continue in the chosen direction, and be prepared to make the necessary changes when the situation demands it.
Jaakkola reminded his listeners that Finland's defence skills are based on asymmetric tactics. This has meant innovative solutions to challenge a numerically superior opponent. "It pays to stick to your strengths," he told the gathering.
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Secondary school tuition plan
According to Ilta-Sanomat, the Finnish government is now preparing legislation to charge tuition fees for third-country nationals for secondary education, that is pupils and students from non-EU/EEA countries attending upper secondary schools and vocational schools.
The paper says that a working group has been set up to prepare the proposal, which will report to Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz (SPP).
This is a completely new policy, IS points out, as the government programme only provides for tuition fees for higher education, not for secondary education.
Replying to questions from IS, Adlercreutz replied that the government has outlined a plan to ease the obligations of municipalities and strengthen the tax revenue base. One of these measures is to allow upper secondary education and vocational training providers to collect tuition fees from students arriving from outside the European Economic Area.
IS writes that according to its sources, the main reason why students from outside the EU and the EEA come to Finland to study is that education is free of charge.
Former games industry entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka has been a vocal advocate of importing high school students from Asia, mainly to rural towns and cities. The Education Ministry has long been sceptical of his plans.
Winter is cancelled
Kuopio's Savon Sanomat is among the papers telling readers that anyone expecting to see proper winter weather anytime soon is in for a disappointment, as it looks like the remainder of winter has been cancelled.
The latest outlook by the European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts shows signs of spring in the coming weeks, at least in terms of temperatures.
This week and next, the whole of Finland will be much milder than normal for the time of year.
According to the Foreca weather service, the average temperature in March will range from -1C along the south-west coast to -10C in northern Lapland.
This week will also continue to be slightly wetter than normal in the western part of the country and in western Lapland. Next week will be slightly rainier than normal all across the country.
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