Paper maker awaits U.S. report
A union official said he would urge the NewPage to appeal.
BALTIMORE (AP) — Paper maker NewPage Corp. will wait for a final report from a federal agency before deciding whether to appeal a decision that American industry was not threatened by imports of Chinese coated paper.
“Obviously, we are extremely disappointed,” NewPage spokeswoman Amber Garwood said. “We disagree with the decision.”
Last year, Dayton, Ohio-based NewPage, which employs 950 people at its Luke mill in Allegany County, became the first U.S. company in 15 years to ask the Commerce Department to impose subsidy-countering duties against any imports from China. The Commerce Department agreed to consider the case, filed against coated free sheet paper imports from China, Indonesia and Korea.
The 5-1 ruling Tuesday by the International Trade Commission overturns antidumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed by the Commerce Department on coated and glossy paper from China, Indonesia and South Korea. NewPage, owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital, had sought the punitive tariffs, claiming the imports were illegally subsidized and sold at unfairly low prices.
Tom Caldwell, president of United Steelworkers Local 646, which represents workers at the Luke mill that has lost 350 jobs since 2002, said Thursday that he would urge the company to appeal.
“My first reaction was total disbelief,” Caldwell said. “Everyone was thinking that everything was going our way. Then the door slammed in our faces.”
USW President Leo Gerard, in a statement issued following the commission’s announcement, said the decision “means that no tariffs will be placed on the offending goods to counter the unfair trade practices that are costing American paper workers their jobs and jeopardizing the future of their manufacturing plants and the communities where they reside.”
The Commerce Department’s decision in May to impose duties attracted attention because it reversed 23 years of U.S. policy by treating China — classed as a nonmarket economy — the same way other trading partners are treated in subsidy cases. The U.S. government imposed preliminary tariffs ranging from 23.19 percent to 99.54 percent on imports of glossy Chinese paper used in art books, textbooks and magazines.
The move alarmed Beijing because it opened the way for complaints by U.S. companies that face competition from imports of Chinese furniture and other goods. Many say Chinese rivals receive improper help through low-cost loans and other aid.
China demanded the repeal of the duties and filed a WTO complaint accusing the United States of acting improperly.