*EPF309 12/01/2004
Dumping Case On Shrimp Imports Moves Closer to Vote on Duties
(China, Vietnam affected by Commerce Department's final ruling) (670)

By Andrzej Zwaniecki
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The U.S. Commerce Department has ruled in one of the largest anti-dumping cases in recent years: that shrimp imported from China and Vietnam was dumped on the U.S. market.

In a November 30 final affirmative determination, the department said that, with the exception of imports from one Chinese producer -- Zhangjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd., frozen and canned warm-water shrimp from China and Vietnam was sold at less than fair value, with margins ranging up to 112.81 percent for China and 25.76 percent for Vietnam.

The department has considered China and Vietnam separately from four other countries under parallel dumping investigations because it regards them as "non-market economies." It is expected to issue final ruling on the four countries -- Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador and India -- by December 20.

In 2003, shrimp imports from the six countries amounted to $2.67 billion, of which around $1 billion's worth came from China and Vietnam.

An alliance of shrimp producers from eight U.S. states that requested investigation alleged that the six countries are dumping excess production on the U.S. market to expand their market share and demanded imposition of tariffs ranging up to 267 percent.

According to news reports, shrimp producers in China rejected dumping allegations and said that the six countries can produce shrimp at a much lower cost through farming than U.S. producers, who face rapidly growing fuel, gear, and labor costs because they rely on wild-shrimp catch.

U.S. companies that market, distribute and sell seafood said that the imposition of duties would hurt consumers of the United States' most popular seafood by pushing shrimp prices up.

After the preliminary Commerce rulings, the governments of China and some other countries criticized the decisions, but only Brazil has threatened to contest the ruling in the World Trade Organization if duties are indeed imposed.

Imposition of anti-dumping duties requires final affirmative determinations both from the Commerce Department that dumping occurred and from the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) that the imports injured or threatened U.S. industry.

The USITC is expected to make its final injury determination in all six cases in January 2005.

The department also found that critical circumstances exist for all but two Chinese exporters and none from Vietnam. In case of affirmative USITC rulings on both injury and critical circumstances, duties will be applied retroactively to April to imports from producers for whom critical circumstances were found.

The department calculated a separate dumping margin for Chinese and Vietnamese companies that demonstrated that their export activities had not been controlled by government. These and other dumping margins are:

· China: Allied Pacific Group, 84.93 percent; Shantou Red Garden Foodstuff Co., Ltd., 27.89 percent; Yelin Enterprise Co., Hong Kong, 82.27 percent; separate rate, 55.23 percent; all others, 112.81 percent.

· Vietnam: Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, 4.21 percent; Kim Ahn Co., Ltd., 25.76 percent; Minh Hai Joint Stock Seafood Processing Co., 4.13 percent; Camau Frozen Seafood processing Import Export Corporation, 4.99 percent; separate rate; 4.38 percent; all others, 25.76 percent.

Dumping is the import of goods at a price below the home-market or a third-country price or below the cost of production. In case of non-market economies the Commerce Department uses a surrogate third-market country for calculating margins. A dumping margin represents by how much the fair-value price exceeds the dumped price.

In another November 30 final determination, the department said that crepe paper products from China were dumped on the U.S. market and calculated the dumping margin at 266.83 percent.

USITC is expected to make its determination on injury in that case in January 2005.

In 2003, U.S. imports of crepe paper products from China amounted to $1.6 million, a 45-percent increase from 2002.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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