Catalyst Paper, a manufacturer of diverse printing papers, said the U.S. Department of Commerce or DOC has issued its preliminary decision to impose countervailing duties on Canadian imports of supercalendered paper.
The Coalition for Fair Paper Imports – U.S.-based Madison Paper and Verso Corporation – petitioned the DOC in February and asked it to impose countervailing duties on imports of supercalendered paper from Canadian paper producers Port Hawkesbury Paper, as well as Resolute Forest Products, Irving Paper and Catalyst Paper.
The Coalition alleges that Canadian supercalendered paper producers are subsidized by the Canadian federal and provincial governments. Supercalendered paper is glossy paper used in retail catalogues, flyers and magazines.
In its investigation, the DOC refused to examine each paper company individually. The U.S. agency examined Port Hawkesbury Paper and Resolute Forest Products, and assigned each company a rate of 20.33 percent and 2.04 percent, respectively, but did not investigate Catalyst Paper or Irving Paper.
Instead, the DOC assigned Catalyst and Irving an “all-others rate” of 11.19 percent, which is equal to the average of the rates that the DOC assigned to the other two companies.
Joe Nemeth, President & CEO of Catalyst, said, “Catalyst rejects the allegation that we’ve received government subsidies, and we’re confident a full and fair investigation would confirm this. We will continue to work with the Canadian federal and provincial governments, and we will seek an expedited review of our case by the DOC.”The decision issued today is only a Preliminary Determination by the DOC of the duty. The final determination of the duty will be rendered on October 13, and its final order in early December.