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WASHINGTON - Congressmen Tom Petri and Steve Kagen, along with other members of the Wisconsin delegation, Thursday urged the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to recognize the damage to Appleton Papers and the U.S. thermal paper industry because of imports from Asia and Europe. These imports are being sold in the United States at artificially low prices.
Earlier today, less than 24 hours after receiving the letter, the ITC ruled affirmatively that there is a reasonable indication that Appleton is being harmed by unfairly traded imports from China and Germany.
Appleton Papers is the largest U.S. manufacturer of thermal paper – the type used for point-of-sale retail receipts and coupons – and has 1,300 employees in Wisconsin. The company has over 2,500 employees at facilities in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Petri and Kagen are troubled by anti-competitive tactics used by foreign sellers of similar paper to the U.S. market, and urged the federal government to halt such unfair competition. In their letter to ITC Chairman Daniel Pearson, Petri and Kagen wrote, “(D)omestic industries are losing sales and market share to imported paper being sold in the U.S. at prices lower than Appleton’s cost of raw materials… It is our hope that the facts of this case will be reviewed thoroughly, and that your decision will recognize the injury to U.S. companies and workers producing lightweight thermal paper.”
Chairman David Obey of the Appropriations Committee and Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Paul Ryan and James Sensenbrenner joined Kagen and Petri on the letter to the ITC.
Following today’s favorable ITC ruling, the U.S. Department of Commerce will now investigate Appleton’s allegations that imports from China and Germany are being “dumped” in the United States and that the Chinese government is illegally subsidizing its lightweight thermal paper industry. Appleton is asking the Department of Commerce and the ITC to impose offsetting tariffs on products imported from those countries.
Appleton filed petitions with the Department of Commerce and the ITC earlier this year alleging harmful trade activities. On November 1, 2007, on the heels of communications from Petri, Kagen and others in the Wisconsin congressional delegation, the Department of Commerce determined that there was sufficient evidence to merit investigating Appleton’s allegations.
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