Following a preliminary determination by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Canadian supercalendered paper sold in the U.S. is now subject to duties up to 20 per cent.
The US-based Coalition for Fair Paper Imports, whose members are Madison Paper Industries and Verso Corporation, applauds this decision. The Coalition originally petitioned the Commerce Department to investigate the subsidies provided to Canadian producers and importers of supercalendered paper in February 2015.
Michael Croteau, President of United Steel Workers Local 36 at the Madison Mill in Maine, said in a press release: "This is a critical decision for the workers at the Madison Mill and other paper mills in the United States. We don't want to see more lost jobs in this country caused by unfair imports, and this preliminary decision is a good step in preventing that. We thank the Department of Commerce for their hard work."
The affected Canadian producers are Port Hawkesbury Paper, which faces an interim duty of 20.33%, Resolute Forest Products, which faces a duty of 2.04%, and Irving forest Products and Catalyst Paper, which will have a duty of 11.19% applied, according to Pulp Paper Canada.
The Canadian producer reject the allegation that they have received government subsidies.
