The U.S. Department of Commerce recently made its final determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of supercalendered paper from Canada, and the duties are even higher for some mills than the interim rates, Pulp & Paper Canada reports.
Port Hawkesbury Paper LP and Resolute FP Canada Inc., who are considered mandatory respondents in this CVD investigation, received final subsidy rates of 20.18 per cent and 17.87 per cent, respectively. Catalyst Paper and Irving Forest Products have been assigned a final subsidy rate of 18.85 per cent.
The US Department of Commerce's justification for the change to Resolute’s rate is based on the that the fact that the company "did not fully cooperate with the investigation." Resolute denies this, and says it is ”surprised and disappointed with this announcement”.
Port Hawkesbury Paper and Catalyst Paper have also indicated they will challenge the duties. In a press release Port Hawkesbury announces that it will ”appeal this decision and is in the process of exploring various options — including through the U.S. courts, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – in close coordination with both the Canadian and Nova Scotia governments”.
Catalyst Paper’s CEO Joe Nemeth says:
“Catalyst rejects the allegation that we've received government subsidies, and we're confident that a full and fair investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce would confirm this”.
