The US International Trade Commission gave final approval on Wednesday to import duties ranging up to nearly 260 percent on lined paper school notebooks from China, India and Indonesia.
The trade panel ruled low-priced imports from the three countries had injured or threatened to injure US paper companies who asked for relief last year. The ruling is expected to boost the cost of supplying millions of US school children with their paper needs, while protecting about 600 American jobs, union leaders said.
The US Commerce Department has estimated Chinese producers are "dumping" lined paper products in the US market at 76.70 to 258.21 percent below fair market value.
The ITC vote on Wednesday clears the way for Commerce to issue a final anti-dumping duty order on the imports.
Indonesia faces anti-dumping duties ranging from 97.85 to 118.63 percent, as well as additional countervailing duties of 40.55 percent to offset government subsidies.
Commerce has set anti-dumping duties ranging from 3.91 to 23.17 on lined paper products from India and countervailing duties ranging 1.67 to 10.24 percent.
US paper and steel workers hailed the decision as essential protection against imported notebooks they said sell for as little as 9 cents in some mass retail outlets.
MeadWestvaco, one of the US companies that brought the case, has closed two plants since 2003 as imports have surged 57 percent, union leaders said in a statement.