Dumping duty on shrimp likely

US SHUTTING WINDOWS

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) yesterday gave preliminary approval for imposition of anti-dumping duties on shrimp imports from India, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Thailand and Vietnam.

The trade panel voted 6-0 that there was an indication that cheaper, pond-raised shrimps from these countries were hurting US shrimp farmers.

The vote clears the way for the US commerce department to impose preliminary duties in early June to offset alleged "dumping" by the six countries.

Since imports account for about 80 per cent of US shrimp consumption, the department's decision on the size of duties could have a big impact on shrimp prices in the country.

K Jose Cyriac, head of the Marine Products Export Development Authority, ministry of commerce, said: "This is only a decision based on a preliminary hearing by the USITC. Three weeks ago, the US department of commerce had also given a similar decision. The decision to slap anti-dumping duty or not will come only on June 17."

The US department of commerce had found that shrimpers seeking the anti-dumping duty represented 25 per cent of the local production, which was a sufficient percentage for the USITC to go into a second hearing. Now, the trade panel has also found that these six countries have caused 'local injury'.

Cyriac said before the second decision in June this year, the US department of commerce would circulate questionnaires to five or six companies in each of the six countries concerned to find out whether these producers were selling below cost. Only then would the question of anti-dumping duty arise, he added.

The Seafood Exporters' Association of India (SEAI) had recently appointed a Washington-based law firm, Garvey Schubert Barer, to fight the case on behalf of shrimp exporters in India.

The total consumption of shrimps in the US is an estimated 1 billion pounds. Thailand supplies close to 20 per cent of this followed by China (10 per cent), Vietnam (9 per cent) and India (7.5 per cent).

"American shrimp farmers deal with a specific variety called Vannamei, which is not exported by India at present. This is exported only by China, Thailand, Indonesia and Ecuador. India's shrimp exports are predominantly the Black Tiger and Scampi varieties, which are not cultivated in the US," Abraham J Tharakan, president, SEAI, said.