Ripples of US tariffs hurt Ballarpur Industries

Losses of domestic paper makers have jumped 5 times in 12 months

Creditors of India’s largest paper maker, Ballarpur Industries, could face costly unintended consequences from punitive US duties on some of the company’s Asian competitors.

Ballarpur invested heavily in recent years to modernise its production facilities, and now may not be able to avoid defaulting on its debts, Fitch Ratings said Monday. The imposition by the US of duties on Chinese and Indonesian paper in mid-2015 couldn't have come at worse time for Ballarpur, as it prompted companies from those nations to seek more sales in India. India itself is reducing paper import tariffs.

The result is a toxic mix for Ballarpur, founded