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Chinese shrimp faces US anti-dumping tariffs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-02-18 23:45 The US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled
on Tuesday that shrimp imports from China and five other countries threaten the
US industry, opening the way to possible anti-dumping tariffs.
Shrimps are key to the economy in some areas
of China and are popular across the country including the Huangsh market
in Guangzhou, South China. [newsphoto] | The six-member body voted unanimously for a finding against shrimp and prawns
from Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Chinese officials and businesses said the ruling is disappointing.
Fang Guofeng, president of Zhoushan Xifeng Aquatic Products Co Ltd, said the
Chinese Government gives no subsidies to its shrimping industry.
"If we sell at below-cost prices or prices lower than in the domestic market,
we cannot afford it."
Chinese shrimp farmers from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang have
given notice to the ITC, via their US lawyers, that they will respond to the
case.
Shrimp exports are a major source of income for fishermen in coastal areas
who will be hit badly if the anti-dumping tariffs is imposed.
Zhang Zhibiao, deputy secretary-general of the China Chamber of Commerce of
Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products (CFNA),
said it was impossible for the ITC to stop the lawsuit by US shrimpers, who had
planned their legal petition for two years and spent several hundred million
dollars on it.
A negative ITC determination would have ended the case in the first phase.
The ITC said there was a "reasonable indication" that the imports, allegedly
being dumped in the United States at unfair prices, harm or threaten the local
industry.
That means the US Department of Commerce will make a preliminary finding on
import tariffs or quotas by about June 8, the ITC said.
The US Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a suit on December 31 last year,
looking for tariffs of up to 349 per cent on shrimp from Brazil, 264 per cent
from China, 166 per cent from Ecuador, 110 per cent from India, 58 per cent from
Thailand and 93 per cent from Viet Nam.
The six countries targeted in the case reject any blame for US job losses and
argue the proposed anti-dumping duties would penalize them for simply being
cheaper producers, Zhang said.
Statistics provided by the CFNA estimated that China exported US$800 million
worth of shrimp in 2003, half of which was exported to the United
States.
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