Jakarta --The Indonesian pulp and paper industry is now free to ship more coated free-sheet paper to the United States following the US International Trade Commission (ITC)'s decision to throw out dumping charges, local press said Saturday.  
 
Sinar Mas, one of Indonesia's biggest producers, said that the ITC had discontinued the investigation into coated paper products from Indonesia, China and South Korea as it had found no evidence that paper imports from these countries unfairly disadvantaged the US paper industry.
 
The ITC had decided by a five to one vote during a meeting Tuesday that the dumping allegations had not been proved, reported English-language newspaper The Jakarta Post.  
 
As a result, the commission halted the investigation, with the result that coated paper imports from Indonesia will not be subject to anti-dumping or countervailing duties.  
 
"The decision is important for us because if we had to pay the duties, our products would become less competitive," Sinar Mas managing director Sulistiyanto was quoted as saying.
 
US producers of coated free-sheet paper filed an anti-dumping complaint last year against imports from Indonesia, China and South Korea, alleging that they had been materially injured by the imports.  
 
The Indonesian government and Indonesian paper exporters -- PT Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia (Tjiwi Kimia) and PT Pindo Deli Pulp and Paper Mills (Pindo Deli), both subsidiaries of Sinar Mas -- denied the charges.
 
Sulistiyanto said the ruling would help Indonesia maintain one of its largest markets for paper exports, adding that the total value of coated free-sheet paper exports to the US could reach 50 million US dollars per year.