Clouds are lifting from a dark few months for Catalyst Paper Corporation and its last remaining three mills in Port Alberni, Crofton and Powell River.
On Wednesday, August 29, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) unanimously rejected the countervailing and anti-dumping duties previously applied by the US Department of Commerce on Catalyst’s newsprint products.
The decision means that anti-dumping and countervailing duties of 20.26 per cent applied to uncoated groundwood paper products since January 16 of this year will be refunded and will no longer apply in future.
“It’s a huge sigh of relief,” said City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa. “I was confident that this would come in our favour. I'm more convinced now than ever that it was a ploy to try and get rid of some of the competition while Catalyst was weak. We all knew that this was frivolous and didn't make a lot of sense. We're really happy to see this result.”
The loss to the Powell River mill from the anti-dumping duties was estimated to be $6 million a month, according to Formosa, or approximately $42 million since January.
Uncoated groundwood paper is used for newspapers, directories, flyers, catalogues and books, and, Formosa said, accounts for 60 per cent of Powell River’s mill production.
“Today's ruling means that Catalyst will no longer have to pay these debilitating, unfair duties,” stated premier John Horgan and minister of jobs, trade and technology Bruce Ralston in making the announcement. “We're very pleased with the outcome and we're glad the ITC has made the right decision based on the evidence before it. This is good news for people who work in the newsprint industry.”
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