SCHUMER ANNOUNCES FEDS TAKE CRITICAL STEP TOWARD LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD FOR FINCH PAPER, WHICH IS UNDER THREAT FROM PRODUCERS IN CHINA & OTHER COUNTRIES WHO ARE UNFAIRLY DUMPING HUGE AMOUNTS OF PAPER INTO U.S. – FEDS HAVE CONCLUDED THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT IMPORTS ARE HURTING INDUSTRY; NEXT STEP IS FOR DEPT. OF COMMERCE TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL ACTION TO LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Schumer, in Visit to Glens Falls Last Month, Urged Fed International Trade Commission To Protect Finch and Its 600 Glens Falls Workers Against Potential Unfair Tactics From China Finch Has Lost Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Sales Over Last 18 Months Due to Unfairly Priced Imports   

Schumer: Trade Case Could Level the Playing Field for Finch & Its Workers

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the International Trade Commission (ITC) reached an affirmative preliminary determination in the trade case filed by Finch Paper. The ITC determined that there was reason to conclude that imports are injuring or threatening injury to domestic paper producers, like Finch.  The case now advances to the Department of Commerce, which will determine if anti-dumping and countervailing duties are needed to combat foreign trade practices. The Department of Commerce will issue its preliminary determination no later than June 30th. Schumer visited Finch Paper in Glens Falls last month to urge the International Trade Commission (ITC) to protect Finch against predatory trade practices. Finch indicated that artificially cheap uncoated paper imports from China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Portugal have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars’ worth of sales and made it difficult for them to compete. During his visit, Schumer noted that Finch Paper is one of the largest employers in Glens Falls, employing over 600 people and bringing with it an economic impact of more than $370 million per year, and he vowed to do everything possible to protect it.

“This is an excellent step toward leveling the playing field for Finch Paper once and for all,” said Schumer. “A company like Finch, which employs over 600 people and is a local economic leader, should not be undermined by foreign competitors who do not play by the rules. When up against fair competition, I know Finch will win, and today’s ruling is a step in the right direction.”

According to Finch, the company has seen the loss of millions of dollars in sales over the past 18 months that it directly attributes to unfairly priced imports. Schumer said that while paper imports from foreign companies in countries like China increased 44 percent from 2011 to 2013 and another 40 percent from 2013 to 2014, the U.S. market has been shrinking 3 to 4 percent annually over the past few years. During this time, shipments of uncoated paper from U.S. manufacturers declined by approximately 8 percent from 2011 to 2013, and another 9 percent from 2013 to 2014. Schumer said many paper industry leaders like Finch have indicated that this marked increase in imports and loss of U.S. market share is likely due to anticompetitive foreign business and government tactics that undermine U.S. manufacturers like Finch and their workers must be stopped.

Schumer joined with local Finch Paper workers and Warren County officials as he announced his push to crack down on this foreign predatory practice. Schumer is urging the ITC to carefully consider the information that the U.S. industries have presented in their investigation. The antidumping and countervailing duty investigations will determine whether foreign producers are being unfairly subsidized by foreign governments and whether they are using predatory pricing practices to sell their products at less than fair value. Such anticompetitive practices are often used to edge U.S. companies out of the market. These investigations could lead to the U.S. imposing duties to combat anticompetitive pricing and level the playing field for U.S. producers. Schumer explained that now that the ITC has made an affirmative determination, the case will move to the Department of Commerce, which will determine if duties should be issued to protect the US industry. The U.S. has issued nearly 140 antidumping and countervailing duty orders in force against producers in China, five times the number of duty orders against any other country.  

Finch currently employs over 600 workers, and is one of the largest employers in Glens Falls and a major staple of its local economy. In addition to its local employees, Finch is indirectly responsible for 2,200 jobs across the Capital and North Country regions, and has a total estimated economic impact of more than $370 million per year. Finch partners with seven union locals to manufacture uncoated printing papers for corporate marketing materials, direct mail, book publishing, transactional documents, and business offices. Finch Paper was founded in downtown Glens Falls 150 years ago and is a cornerstone of Upstate New York manufacturing. Schumer said anticompetitive foreign business tactics, like dumping, should not be allowed to undermine U.S. manufacturers like Finch and their local workers.

Dumping is when a foreign company exports their goods into the United States below fair market value. The ITC begins antidumping and countervailing duty investigations by determining if there is a reasonable indication that the US industry has been or could be materially injured by unfair trade practices. After the ITC makes an affirmative decision, the U.S. Department of Commerce investigates dumping margins, typically the difference between the U.S. market price of a product and the price in the exporter’s home country, to determine if dumping has occurred. Positive dumping margins become a duty order if both Commerce and the ITC have affirmative final determinations. The duty order is a type of tax on the import found to be undervalued, which brings the price of that import to fair value.

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