United States: Maine representatives call for vigilance over McInnis plant

Congressional representatives for the state of Maine have written to US Trade Representative, Maria Pagan, calling on her to ensure that cement imports from McInnis’s new Port-Daniel-Gascons plant do not unfairly compete with domestic firms.

In a letter to Ms Pagan, the four representatives state that McInnis’s project has received support from the government of Quebec which could be in violation of Canada’s international obligations under WTO rules.

The letter specifically cites the case of Maine-based Dragon Cement as an example of a company that could be harmed by the “unfair” subsidies flowing to McInnis. The representatives put the value of these subsidies at hundreds of millions of dollars.