For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News
Oakland — CUMBERLAND — NewPage Corp. and the United Steelworkers are commending the U.S. Department of Commerce for its decision to impose tariffs on imports of coated paper to offset the unfair advantage that was being given to foreign paper companies.
Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of NewPage, said, “We have a world-class workforce; highly competitive, well-managed assets; and sound environmental practices from proper forest management to efficient use of energy and raw materials to low-cost transportation and logistics. Given a balanced scorecard and level playing field, we believe NewPage can compete with anyone in the global marketplace.”
NewPage was joined by Appleton Coated LLC and Sappi Fine Paper North America in filing unfair trade cases Sept. 23 with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. The companies and the United Steelworkers alleged that certain coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized, resulting in injury to the domestic industry and its employees.
The paper products covered by the petitions include coated paper used in high-quality writing, printing and other graphic applications. The three companies employ about 6,000 production workers represented by the USW at 20 paper mills operating in seven states, including the Luke mill.
The Department of Commerce found that Chinese coated paper was subsidized by an average rate of 8.38 percent. In Indonesia, APP/ Sinar Mas producers Tjiwi Kimia and Indah Kiat received a subsidy margin of 17.48 percent. All other Indonesian producers/ ex-porters will be subject to this same rate.
These importers of paper will be required to post bond or cash deposits in an amount equal to the announced margins pending final resolution of the cases later this year.
