Trade Commission Votes to Proceed with Investigation of Coated Paper Imports

The ITC's action follows the Oct. 13 decision by the Commerce Department to open its investigation on the filings.

The petitions filed by the companies and the USW estimate that total imports of covered coated paper skyrocketed by nearly 40 percent during the first six months of 2009 compared with a similar period of time in 2008. During the same period, shipments of paper covered by the domestic manufacturers' petitions are estimated to have declined by approximately 38 percent. China and Indonesia together almost doubled their share of the U.S. market over the same period and now are believed to account for nearly 30 percent of the U.S. market.