Trade commission targets foreign paper

From Staff Reports

CUMBERLAND — Following the filing of unfair trade complaints by NewPage Corp. and others in September, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Friday to investigate the importation of coated paper from China and Indonesia.

“We’re prepared to compete with anyone on fair terms,” said Rick Willett, president and CEO of NewPage. “The advantages domestic producers enjoy from abundant, well-managed forest resources, energy and raw materials, as well as lower transportation and logistics costs aren’t enough to compete against the unfair trade practices of some of our Indonesian and Chinese competitors. They just aren’t competing fairly.”

The complainants allege that coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized, resulting in harm to the domestic industries and their employees. The products covered in the petitions include coated paper used in high-quality writing, printing and other graphic applications.

“Today’s vote is an important step in our quest to restore a level playing field,” said Mark Gardner, resident of Sappi Fine Paper North America. “Fair competition requires all companies, both domestic and international, to abide by the trade laws and to make investments in sustainable practices.”

NewPage and Sappi were joined in filing the complaints by Appleton Coated LLC and the United Steelworkers, which represents workers at the NewPage mill in Luke.

The ITC now joins the U.S. Department of Commerce, which ruled Oct. 13 to investigate.

NewPage and the others claim that the total imports of covered coated paper skyrocketed by nearly 40 percent during the first six months of 2009, compared to that time frame in 2008, while shipments by domestic manufacturers dropped by 38 percent.

China and Indonesia together almost doubled their share of the U.S. market during that time and are believed to account for nearly 30 percent of that market, according to the filers.