In a letter written in late January, US Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), urged President Trump to address China’s latest unfair trade practices and balancing the trade deficit. Chinese paper policy has driven up the global price of pulp – causing problems for Wisconsin paper producers like Appleton Coated.

 Senator Baldwin writes, “In July 2017, the Chinese government announced that it would limit or ban imports of certain recoverable wastes, such as paper, into China. Recovered paper is a substitute for pulp used as an input for paper manufacturing. The policy went into effect January 1, 2018. Importantly, the Chinese policy only applies to imports. The same restrictions do not apply to paper that is recovered for use within China.”
 “The United States exported $470 million in recovered wastes or recovered materials to China in 2016. With China’s new trade restriction eliminating this significant supply of recovered paper to Chinese paper manufacturers, Chinese firms have resorted to buying more pulp to meet demand. This trade distortion has driven up the price of pulp by 20-30 percent globally just since the policy was announced. This price spike has forced several Wisconsin mills to idle or close.”
 The letter closes with the warning that the state of Wisconsin will lose more jobs in the paper industry if these trade issues are not addressed.