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Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. applauds the U.S. Department of Commerce for their affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping duty investigations on imports of lightweight thermal paper. He also urged the same result for the final determination and that the International Trade Commission (ITC) stay this decision.
“I am pleased to have been part of the effort with my colleague Congressman Tom Petri to convince the Department of Commerce that illegal paper is being sold in the United States and that the dumping of illegal paper by China and Germany requires an immediate and severe response,” said Kagen.
The Commerce Department found evidence to support the assertions of the U.S. lightweight thermal paper (LWTP) industry that imports from China and Germany are being “dumped” into the U.S market, which is illegal under international trade rules. The Commerce Department finding must be upheld by final rulings that the Administration is slated to issue later this year. There is no certainty that a preliminary finding will be upheld, as others have been reversed in the past.
“We know from recent experience that appropriate decisions made by the Department of Commerce can be reversed by the ITC. Accordingly I am working with my colleagues to guarantee that decisions made by the Commission are more consistent with the economic realities and significant loss of jobs taking place, because China has targeted our paper industry for extinction,” said Kagen.
Last month, Congressman Kagen led a bipartisan letter addressed to Secretary Gutierrez of the Commerce Department, urging that the Administration put a stop to the unfairly traded LWTP imports from China and Germany that are impeding the ability of domestic manufacturers to keep up with rising input costs, including energy and pulp prices.
Lightweight thermal paper (LWTP) is a paper coated with chemicals that react to form images when exposed to heat. It is regularly used as printed receipts from transactions with ATMs, credit cards, gas pumps, and retail stores. The petitioner for these investigations is Appleton Papers, Inc. of Appleton, WI.
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