SCHUMER ANNOUNCES, FOLLOWING HIS PUSH, INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION HAS REACHED FINAL DETERMINATION THAT WILL HELP PROTECT FINCH PAPER AND OTHER U.S. PAPER PRODUCERS AGAINST CHINA & OTHER COUNTRIES THAT UNFAIRLY DUMP HUGE AMOUNTS OF PAPER INTO U.S. – SCHUMER SAYS HIGH DUTIES WILL BE PLACED ON FOREIGN PRODUCTS TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD

Finch Has Lost Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Sales Over Last 2 Years Due to Unfairly Priced Imports – Artificially Cheap Paper Imports From China, Indonesia & Other Countries Have Flooded the U.S. Market, Making It Difficult For NY Paper Companies Like Finch To Compete 

Schumer Visited Finch Paper in 2015 & Urged The ITC To Act To Protect Finch and Its 600 Glens Falls Workers Against Unfair Trade Tactics – Says ITC Rightly Acted  To Level Playing Field for American Producers 

Schumer: U.S. Will Protect Glens Falls Workers From Repeat Trade Cheats Like China – A Major Win For Glens Falls Workers

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined that Finch Paper and several other paper producers across the country were unfairly injured from foreign countries’ predatory trade practices. Schumer said this critical decision will now pave the way for high duties on imported paper products on five countries, including China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and Portugal. Schumer said this determination will finally level the playing field for the more than 600 workers, and United Steelworkers union member, at Finch Paper’s paper manufacturing plant in Glens Falls. Schumer said this determination will finally hold China and other trade cheats accountable for their repeated violations. In February 2015, Schumer visited the Finch Paper plant to urge the ITC to protect the company against these predatory trade practicing, citing that the repeat violations have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars’ worth of sales for Finch and made it difficult for them to compete.

“The workers at the Finch Paper in Glens Falls have been unfairly impacted by China’s producers, and other foreign countries, repeatedly selling their paper products in the United States at artificially low prices, which is a clear violation of international trade obligations. When I visited the workers there I promised to do all I could to help them,” said Schumer. “I am glad to see that our trade enforcement agencies acted to protect Finch Paper and its hundreds of good-paying local jobs. We cannot let foreign competitors who are not playing by the same rules undermine one of this region’s biggest employers. High duties will be placed on paper imports from China and five other nations to protect our American paper industry. It is nearly impossible for an American worker to compete and succeed in the global marketplace while other countries break the rules and employ predatory trade practices – so I will continue to make sure our trade rules are strictly enforced to provide job security for workers across New York and the country.”

During his visit to Finch Paper last year, Schumer urged the ITC to enforce current antidumping and countervailing duty laws and conduct a thorough investigation to protect the U.S. industry. Schumer explained that the ITC, an independent federal agency tasked with investigating cases involving imports claimed to injure a domestic industry, had launched an investigation into whether U.S. paper companies have been materially injured as a result of uncoated paper imports from China, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Portugal.The producers from these five countries were found to be selling their paper products in the U.S. market at artificially low prices – a predatory trade practice known as dumping – and, in some cases, receiving unfair subsidies from foreign governments. Dumping is a practice that foreign competitors use to undermine domestic producers, in this case more than 600 workers at Finch Paper’s Glens Falls plant. Schumer noted that China and these other countries have rapaciously targeted and injured the U.S. manufacturing base with predatory practices in the past. Now, as a result of this ITC determination, the antidumping duty orders soon to be issued on paper imports from China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil and Portugal will range up to 222.46 percent. In addition to this, a countervailing duty order ranging up to 176.75 percent will be placed on China’s producers, due to the heavy subsidies China is proving them.  

“Trade cases are all too often a necessary tool to ensure fair competition,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “Our members should not have to face unfair and predatory trade practices. Their government should be initiating action but if they do not, we must. In partnership with the four petitioning companies and supported by dozens of elected officials from across the country, we made clear that we would not cede our market to unfair competition. The paper sector supports thousands of good, family-supportive jobs all across the country and we owe it to the workers to ensure that when they work hard and play by the rules, they’ll have a good shot at a decent life.”

Schumer noted that Finch Paper is one of the largest employers in Glens Falls, employing over 600 people, and a major piece of the local economy, with an economic impact of more than $370 million per year, and he said we must do everything possible to protect it.Because it is increasingly difficult for companies like Finch to compete with foreign competitors who seek to expand their U.S. market share by implementing anticompetitive pricing practices, or who benefit from foreign government subsidization, Schumer visited the plant in February 2015 and called on the ITC to enforce current antidumping duty laws and conduct a thorough investigation aimed at protecting the U.S. industry. Schumer explained that, in January 2015, the ITC informed Finch Paper and other U.S. paper making companies that it would be commencing an antidumping and countervailing investigation to determine whether the U.S. paper industry has been threatened by uncoated paper imports from companies in China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia and Portugal. On the heels of this news, Schumer urged the ITC to thoroughly analyze the impact of these foreign products on U.S. producers like Finch and do all it can to protect uncoated paper manufacturers and their workers from predatory trade practices.

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 and must be stopped.

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. If 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.

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.

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