WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King applauded yesterday's decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which confirmed that Catalyst Paper received a negligible amount of subsidies during the review period. Catalyst Paper will now be excluded from the countervailing duty order on supercalendered paper. 

In December 2015, countervailing duty orders were issued on supercalendered paper imports from Canada. During the course of the investigation, however, the Department of Commerce chose to investigate only two producers – Port Hawkesbury Paper and Resolute. As a result, the remaining two Canadian producers, Catalyst and J.D. Irving, were assigned duties based upon the subsidies provided to Port Hawkesbury and Resolute and not on subsidies, if any, received by Catalyst and Irving. Together, both companies employ more than 1,000 men and women in Maine.

“This decision by the Department of Commerce is great news for the hardworking Catalyst employees who were unfairly affected by the arbitrary duties that were imposed without determining whether the company was receiving subsidies,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. “We strongly advocated for an expedited review of Catalyst to ensure that they received an independent examination. We will continue to press the Department of Commerce to complete a fair and fact-based investigation of Irving to which it is entitled.”

In 2015, Senators Collins and King raised concerns directly with then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker regarding the failure to independently investigate Catalyst and Irving and how this could negatively affect the companies’ Maine employees.

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