March 3, 2010
 
Mollohan Commends Decision Against Subsidized Paper Imports
Commerce Dept. Imposes Countervailing Duties on Imports of Coated Paper Products
 
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
 
Washington, DC (HNN) – Congressman Alan B. Mollohan applauded the Department of Commerce’s preliminary decision to impose countervailing duties on imports of coated paper products from China and Indonesia.
 
The Department announced on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 that it has found that coated paper products from China were subsidized at an average rate of 8.38 percent and that coated paper products from Indonesia were subsidized at a rate of 17.48 percent.
 
The decision came in response to petitions filed by domestic paper manufacturers and the United Steelworkers, which represents labor at some paper mills. NewPage Corporation, one of the petitioners, operates a mill in Luke, Maryland that employs approximately 480 West Virginians.
 
Mollohan contacted the Secretary of Commerce in October to urge the Department’s “thorough examination” of the petitioners’ claims.
 
“I am pleased that the Department has agreed with our argument that these Chinese and Indonesian manufacturers are benefitting from unfair subsidies,” Mollohan said. “Those two countries have almost doubled their share of our market in the last year alone. Today’s decision will begin to restore fair trade to this important industry – and offer hope to workers and communities that depend on it.”
 
The Department of Commerce is scheduled to make a final determination in July.