The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in the Federal Register on
Friday that it has concluded its five-year review of antidumping tariffs
on shrimp imports from Thailand, China, India and Brazil, ruling that
rescinding the duties “would likely lead to continuation or recurrence
of dumping.”
The review,
called a “sunset review,” began in early January and is conducted every
five years.
Enacted in early 2005, the tariffs stem from an antidumping petition the
Southern Shrimp Alliance, representing shrimp fishermen and processors
from the Carolinas to Texas, filed in late 2003 against exporters in the
four countries, in addition to Vietnam and Ecuador. The exporters were
accused of dumping, or selling shrimp in the U.S. market below cost or
fair market value.
The DOC also announced in Friday’s Federal Register that it has
initiated its sunset review on shrimp imports from Vietnam. Tariffs on
shrimp imports from Ecuador were lifted in 2007 after the World Trade
Organization ruled that the U.S. practice of zeroing, a controversial
method of calculating duties, is illegal.
The countrywide duty rates stand at 5.34 percent for Thailand, 112.81
percent for China, 10.17 for India and 7.05 for Brazil. Large exporters
are issued separate duty rates that can be higher or lower than the
countrywide rate.
Despite the tariffs, U.S. shrimp imports increased from 1.17 billion
pounds in 2005 to 1.24 billion pounds in 2008. However, they fell 2.8
percent, to 1.21 billion pounds, in 2009.
In the first quarter of 2010, shrimp imports were down 4.4 percent, to
242.1 million pounds, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced
earlier this week.
Source: Vietfish 17/5
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