As of: March 14, 2024, 5:10 a.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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Does the Koehler Group sell its thermal paper in the USA at dumping prices?
This is what the customs authorities there claim – and are demanding a large sum from the company.
Munich – The medium-sized specialty paper manufacturer Koehler Paper from Baden-Württemberg is currently having a lot of trouble in one of its most important sales markets, the US market.
US authorities have been accusing Koehler Paper and other international paper manufacturers of offering so-called thermal paper in the United States at dumping prices for years.
As a result, the US Department of Commerce in Washington imposed anti-dumping duties on Koehler Paper's heat-sensitive and therefore printable special paper.
The company had repeatedly tried to defend itself against this in the past - but without success.
Now the US authorities have reinforced their accusation by taking their allegations against Paper Koehler to the United States District Court.
They are demanding that the family business based in Oberkirch transfer a total amount of $194 million to the US authorities, reports
Wirtschaftswoche
.
Koehler company spokesman Stöckle: “We are defending ourselves against the US government’s allegations”
This means that the amount is approximately twice as high as the profit that Koehler Paper generated in 2022.
At the request of the
Badische Neuesten Nachrichten
(BNN), Koehler Paper's spokesman, Alexander M. Stöckle, commented on the allegations made by the US authorities: “We consider the US government's allegations in connection with anti-dumping tariffs to be unfounded and continue to defend ourselves against it.”
Basically, from a corporate perspective, the present case is about “protectionist behavior on the part of the United States, which by far not only affects us as a company,” explains Stöckle.
However, due to the ongoing proceedings, they do not want to comment further on the allegations at this time.
According to its own information, Koehler Paper is the world market leader in thermal paper.
This special paper has been used in a variety of ways since the 1990s - including for receipts, bank statements and supermarket labels.
Koehler sells the paper, which is marked using heat, all over the world.
Unlike many other paper manufacturers, Koehler Paper is not in a crisis
While some long-established paper manufacturers have been in crisis for years, Koehler Paper is benefiting from only offering specialty papers.
Competing companies on the US market may find it a thorn in the side that the German manufacturer is also successful with its blue thermal paper, which it has protected as “Blue4est”.
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Chimneys on the premises of Koehler Paper SE © Philipp von Ditfurth
This paper is completely recyclable and can therefore be stuck directly to food.
But other companies within the Koehler Group are also market leaders in their segment: including Koehler Paper's subsidiary Katz from Weisenbach in Baden-Württemberg, which leads global beer mat production.
US customs authorities are making huge allegations against Koehler Paper
The bill to Koehler estimated by the US authorities is exactly $193,631,642.08 to the cent.
The excessive amount of this amount could be due to the fact that, according to US customs, Koehler is said to have acted illegally years ago: The German specialty paper manufacturer is said to have “intentionally hidden” transactions from customs officers, whereupon the officials made a decision that was apparently unfavorable for Koehler Estimation procedures were used, reports
Wirtschaftswoche.
US customs also accuse the German company of having changed the group structure in 2021 in order to avoid paying the estimated costs to the US authorities.
The new parent company of Koehler Paper SE, which had been in existence for around three years, no longer had sufficient assets to settle the customs debts.
They now want to secure this payment in the US Commercial Court.
(fh)