U.S. Producers of School Paper Supplies Praise Decision Finding Injury Due to Dumped and Subsidized Imports

Washington, DC—The Association of American School Paper Suppliers praised the final determination of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of lined paper school supplies from India, Indonesia and the People’s Republic of China are causing material injury or threat of such injury to the U.S. industry.  The Association had alleged that imports from all three countries were dumped in the U.S. market, and that imports from India and Indonesia benefited from illegal government subsidies.  As a result of the ITC’s decision, the U.S. Department of Commerce will impose antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of lined paper school supplies from the three countries. 

Alan H. Price, a partner in Wiley Rein & Fielding’s International Trade Practice and Counsel to the Association, stated, “We welcome the ITC’s decision, which allows this important domestic industry and its workers to obtain relief from unfairly traded imports.  We are pleased that the Commission determined that these trade practices are injuring our industry.”   

The Department of Commerce has completed its investigations and calculated final antidumping and countervailing duty margins for these products. The final dumping margins range from 76.70 to 258.21 percent for China, from 97.85 to 118.63 percent for Indonesia and 3.91 to 23.17 percent for India.  The countervailing duty (subsidy) margins are 40.55 for Indonesia and range from 1.67 percent to 10.24 percent for India.

The Association of American School Paper Suppliers is an ad hoc trade association of U.S. producers of paper school supplies, and includes MeadWestvaco Consumer and Office Products Division of MeadWestvaco Corporation, Norcom, Inc. and Top Flight, Inc.  The association’s members have facilities in numerous U.S. locations, including California, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.