U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer joined Finch
Paper workers and Warren County officials last
month to urge the International Trade Commission
(ITC) to protect Finch against “predatory
trade practices.”
Finch has indicated that foreign companies
are dumping artificially cheap paper products
into the U.S. market, which has resulted in the
loss of millions of dollars’ worth of sales for
Finch and made it difficult for them to compete.
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 everything
possible must be done to protect it.
“We cannot sit idly by and let foreign competitors
who are not playing by the same rules
undermine one of Glens Falls’ biggest employers.
Finch Paper is a major driver of the local
economy, so any indication that sales might be
declining as a result of unfair practices is both
a cause for concern and a call to action,” said
Schumer. “Finch provides high-quality products
and hundreds of good-paying jobs, but anticompetitive
practices from foreign producers are
becoming a real threat. The International Trade
Commission and the Department of Commerce
need to thoroughly investigate these practices
and crack down on trade cheats to put U.S.
producers like Finch on a level playing field.
When up against fair competition, I know Finch
will win.”
Schumer said the ITC, an independent
federal agency tasked with investigating cases
involving imports claimed to injure a domestic
industry, has launched an investigation into whether U.S. paper
companies have been materially injured as a result of uncoated paper
imports from China, Indonesia, Australia, Brazil,
Indonesia and Portugal, and the ITC is considering
taking action.
“We are asking our government to level
the playing field for our business and our
employees,” said Finch Paper President and
CEO Debabrata Mukherjee. “Every single day
we are confronted in the U.S. paper market by
bargain-basement pricing from foreign manufacturers
who operate with subsidies from their
governments.”
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 called on the ITC
to enforce current antidumping duty laws and
conduct a thorough preliminary investigation
aimed at protecting U.S. industry.
Schumer said in January, 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, officials said, 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 the ITC should consider the
information that the U.S. industries have presented.
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 said if the ITC makes 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.
In addition to its local employees, Finch officials
say the company 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.