ITC Calls No Harm, No Foul on Imported Shrimp despite Foreign Subsidies

by | Sep 24, 2013 | Trade Policy

In a 4-2 vote, the US International Trade Commission has decided that the US domestic industry has not been materially injured by imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from China, Ecuador, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

As a result, countervailing duties on shrimp from these countries, which had been preliminarily set in May at from 5.76% on shrimp from China to a punitive 62.74% on the Malaysian product, will not be imposed.

The US Department of Commerce launched its inquiry into whether seven countries – China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam – have provided countervailable subsidies to their exporters of frozen warmwater shrimp in February.

In May, Commerce made a preliminary determination that Ecuador and Indonesia were not providing subsidies, while it calculated CVDs on imports from the other five countries.

Last month, Thailand joined Indonesia in being cut loose from the inquiry as Commerce determined it had not provided subsidies, while Ecuador rejoined the list of countries subject to a CVD (which was calculated at 11.68%). Duties for the rest were adjusted: China was set at 18.16%, India at 10.84%, Vietnam at 4.52%, and Malaysia at 54.5%.

The USITC’s September 20 decision makes all these calculations moot – and erases any price advantage Thailand and Indonesia might have gained in the US market.  Thailand is ranked first and Indonesia third among sources for US imports of HS 030617, frozen shrimps and prawns (see the chart below). Both countries have seen production losses due to shrimp early mortality syndrome (EMS) – creating an opening for gains by second-ranked Ecuador.

US imports country sources for HS030617 shrimp & prawn

 

This chart is from Datamyne’s new FREE report on US Trade with Indonesia, which includes data on trade trends since 2007, top import and export commodities and top players – consignees, shippers and carriers – in this trade. Click here to download a pdf copy … or view the power point on SlideShare.

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