I want to commend NewPage Corporation of Luke for its determination to pursue an investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) of unfair trading practices that threaten the future of American paper manufacturing.

American workers can compete with their counterparts around the world, but they need a level playing field. Unfair trade practices hurt all of us, and that’s why earlier this month I wrote a letter to the ITC in support of the NewPage Corporation’s petition.

I am extremely pleased that on Nov. 6 the ITC unanimously voted to pursue an investigation into Chinese and Indonesian dumping of certain coated paper products into the United States.

NewPage employs nearly 1,000 workers at its Maryland mill and hundreds of thousands of American workers are threatened by these types of unfair trading practices.

We cannot allow these unfair trade practices to go unchallenged, and I congratulate NewPage for taking a stand.

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin