Empires of Collusion: First Shot Fired in Pulp Wars

New report, website document costly collusion between greens, unions, corporations

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a public advocacy shot to be heard literally around the world, the Consumers Alliance for Global Prosperity (CAGP) today released a new report, "Empires of Collusion" and launched the website PulpWars.com.  This initiative will fight back against anti-trade, anti-prosperity collusion among international Green NGOs, American trade union bosses, and corporations looking to eschew the rigors of a competitive marketplace.

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The new report represents a foray for CAGP into more aggressive action and provides the basis for further forthcoming efforts to educate the world about protectionist efforts in the United States viewed through the prism of the paper industry. Among the findings in "Empires of Collusion":

• Globally, green non-government organizations, domestic paper-based industries and unions representing workers are colluding to promote green protectionism. Collusion by green groups, unions and industry will not protect U.S. jobs. But it will increase costs for American businesses and for consumers.
• U.S. paper companies Appleton Coated, NewPage, and Sappi -- in cahoots with the United Steelworkers Union -- have colluded and sought a dumping and subsidies complaint against Chinese and Indonesian imports. The final decision of the International Trade Commission to permanently establish tariffs is set to be announced shortly.
• To support their application for these tariffs, unions have lobbied to have trade barriers introduced that would cut competition from other producers, particularly those in China. Meanwhile, the Dogwood Alliance, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have colluded with industry and targeted big box store stationary retailers Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples to cease sourcing paper products from Asia.

CAGP spokesman and Institute for Liberty president Andrew Langer said, "The groups forming the aptly dubbed 'Empires of Collusion' have made this a global problem. We're going to let the world know that free enterprise and free trade are keys to global prosperity.  We should also be concerned about the role of the Alliance for American Manufacturing and their support of this collusion that is anti-free trade and in direct contradiction to the principles of competition that should be essential to any thriving business.

We take our duty very seriously to let the world know groups like Greenpeace, WWF, United Steelworkers, and paper companies like NewPage, Appleton, and Sappi are directly and purposefully costing U.S. consumers more money and denying economic opportunity to the developing world."

Click here to download the report.

About CAGP:

Consumers Alliance for Global Prosperity is an action-oriented advocacy group that promotes economic growth and pro-consumer policies across the world.

For more information or to download the report, visit PulpWars.com. To schedule an interview with Mr. Langer, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Consumers Alliance for Global Prosperity