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U.S. Producers File Petition Against Canadian Paper Makers

Paper producers from the United States, operating under the Coalition for Fair Paper Imports, filed a petition with the United States’ Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission charging that Canadian exporters of super-calendered paper are dumping product into the United States.

The Coalition for Fair Paper Imports (CFFPI), according to a report by EUWID Pulp and Paper, a news agency focused on global paper supply, is comprised of U.S. manufacturers Verso Corporation and Madison Paper Industries, a UPM-Kymmene subsidiary. CFFPI is asking that countervailing duties be imposed on the Canadian exporters of the glossy paper product.

According to a report by The Globe and Mail, the petition (filed in late February), alleges that “Canadian [supercalendered] paper has gained market share by underselling the U.S. market prices of U.S. producers.” The Globe article also states the Canadian companies named in the petition, Resolute Forest Products Inc., Port Hawkesbury Paper, Irving Paper Ltd. and Catalyst Paper Corp., are recieving government subsidies.

EUWID reports that the United States imported around 1.1 million tons of super-calendered paper from Canada last year, representing 88 percent of such total imports in 2014. EUWID also reports the petition covers all super-calendered paper grades, from SC A+ and SC A to SC B and SNC (soft nip calender), regardless of basis weight, brightness, opacity, smoothness, or whether they are offered in reels or sheets.