MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A Wisconsin senator is calling on the U.S. International Trade Commission to reopen the 2007 trade case of NewPage Corp., which blames the shutdown of its Kimberly paper mill on illegal product dumping by China and Europe.

Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl says he spoke Thursday with NewPage chief executive officer Mark Suwyn and offered his assistance to help keep the mill operating.

Kohl says he then called on the chairman of the ITC, Shara Aranoff, to reopen the NewPage case and level the playing field for U.S. producers so they don't have to close mills.

With the scheduled mill shutdown Monday, NewPage will have laid off 600 Kimberly workers.

According to Kohl, members of the state's congressional delegation will seek a meeting to discuss alternatives to the mill closing with John Snow, chairman of the investment company Cerebrus that owns New Page.

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