Doyle, congressmen go to Appleton's aid

Wisconsin politicians are asking U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to look favorably on the ongoing anti-dumping case filed by the company known as Appleton.

The Appleton-based papermaker contends that its business has suffered from foreign-made lightweight thermal paper that it says is being sold in the United States at unfair and artificially low prices.

U.S. Reps. Steve Kagen, an Appleton Democrat, and Tom Petri, a Republican from Fond du Lac, said Thursday that they sent a joint letter dated April 18 asking Gutierrez to consider the economic impact of domestic papermaking as Commerce proceeds with the Appleton case.

"We have trade laws to protect domestic manufacturers struggling against unfair trading practices, and I think it's right and appropriate for the Commerce Department to enforce these rules. That's what this letter is all about," Petri said in a statement.

Gov. Jim Doyle issued a letter Thursday making a similar plea.

Appleton is an employee-owned company with about 1,300 employees in Wisconsin and about 1,100 more in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and the United Kingdom.

While best known for making carbonless paper, Appleton also produces about 60% of the nation's lightweight thermal paper, used for point-of-use printing on such items as lottery tickets and cash register receipts.

Appleton has alleged that lightweight thermal paper from China and Germany has been sold in the United States for less than it cost to make or less than it sold for in the exporting countries.

Last month, Commerce said it would assess countervailing duties on lightweight thermal paper from China after investigating Appleton's complaint that the Chinese government improperly subsidized production of the paper.

"Other nations have targeted our papermaking industry for extinction," Kagen said in a statement. "We are calling on the commerce secretary to enable our papermakers to compete in the global marketplace, and to defend our very way of life."

As the nation's leading paper producer for more than 50 years, Wisconsin has dealt with recent struggles in the industry.

Nearly 1,000 workers face the loss of their jobs this year as mills close in Niagara and Port Edwards and a paper machine in Kimberly is decommissioned.

"The industry is still going through a challenging phase," said Jeff Landin, president of the Wisconsin Paper Council. Papermakers hope that consolidation will help them survive, Landin said, but the Appleton case has the potential to make competition fairer.

"It would have a very positive impact if they were able to, so-called, level the playing field and make sure that the market is where it should be and it's not being diluted," Landin said.

The letter from Kagen and Petri includes signatures by the other Wisconsin members of the House of Representatives and 15 other members of Congress, some of whom have Appleton facilities in their districts.

Bill Van Den Brandt, a spokesman for Appleton, said the company appreciates the support of state and federal representatives and sees its case as "a critical step in restoring a level playing field on which we can compete."

Commerce is expected to issue a preliminary decision on the case next month.

By JOEL DRESANG

jdresang@journalsentinel.com

Posted: April 24, 2008

Source: www.jsonline.com