According to the Minister of Jobs, Trade, and Technology, a small mill in Longview, Washington is to blame for the duties levied on Catalyst Paper’s newsprint exports.
The duties, while eight per cent lower than they were initially, still impose tariffs of more than 20 per cent on newsprint heading from Catalyst to American markets.
Bruce Ralston says the decision from the U.S. Department of Commerce has been met with opposition at every turn, and yet the duties are still there.
He says there’s widespread opposition in the U.S. from the newspaper industry and the publishing sector as a whole, there’s job implications and major political opposition and yet this complaint has proceeded.
The International Trade Commission will make a decision on the duties August 29th.
If it’s deemed there was no injury to American industry, Ralston says the duties will come off Catalyst’s newsprint exports and the money collected from these duties would be refunded.
If it goes the other way, the province and federal government plan to appeal.
