AF&PA Celebrates New Chapter for North American Trade Under USMCA Agreement

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Thursday it will impose countervailing and antidumping import duties on several Canadian softwood lumber firms. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the department determined Canada is providing unfair subsidies to its producers of softwood lumber at rates from 3.34 percent to 18.19 percent and has sold softwood lumber to the United States at 3.20 percent to 8.89 percent less than fair value. "While I am disappointed that a negotiated agreement could not be made between domestic and Canadian softwood producers, the United States is committed to free, fair and reciprocal trade with Canada," Ross said. As a result of the findings, Commerce instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect import duties averaging 20.83 percentt on Canadian lumber imports. Click Read More below for additional information.

Mondi plc (Mondi), a global leader in the production of sustainable packaging and paper, has completed the acquisition of Hinton Pulp mill in Alberta, Canada, from West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd (West Fraser) for a total consideration of USD 5 million. The mill has the capacity to produce around 250,000 tonnes of pulp per annum and will provide the Group with access to local, high-quality fibre from a well-established wood basket as part of a long-term partnership with West Fraser. Mondi intends to invest in the mill to improve productivity and sustainability performance and, subject to pre-engineering and permitting, invest in expanding the facility primarily with a new kraft paper machine which will integrate its paper bag operations in the Americas to support future growth.

Frank Shaffer has joined Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. as Technical Services Manager. In this newly developed role, Frank will act as liaison between Monadnock and its vendors and customers relative to new product development, quality, sales and marketing. Prior to joining Monadnock, Frank was with Hub Folding Box, Mansfield, MA, for the past six years. Prior to that he held positions with Timbar Packaging & Display, and Two C Pack Systems. Frank also founded Souhegan Color, Inc. which merged with Eastern Rainbow in 1999. He has a strong background in commercial print operations, secondary packaging, and media. He is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology with a BS degree in Printing Technology. “I’m pleased to welcome Frank to our team,” said Dr. Rajan Iyer, Vice President of Research & Development and Technical Services at Monadnock. “His extensive background in print platforms, post-press converting, and product development raises the level of consultative service we can provide to our customers.”