Posted on 07/07/2004 2:57:40 AM PDT by BellStar
Get ready to pay more for shrimp.
It seems we pickand choose what tarriffs are allowed, If those tarriffs hurt our Frog friends or Europeans they are bad if they hurt the Asians they are ok. I agree with this tarriff although I sure was enjoying the cheap shrimp, but I agreed with the steel tarrif the liberals squealed about also. It seems Democrtas like Hillary decide to take away something from us for the common good it depends on who's friends they hurt.
And the irony is that many Vietnamese are shrimpers in the Texas Gulf.
I haven't seen the details on the shrimp tariff. And depending on what it is or isn't it may or may not be appropriate.
I don't have a big issue with Vietnam, they are an up and coming producer. (With respect to Shrimp, not so-called-catfish) But Chinese communists are definitely not playing fair. Their state owned aquaculture industry is massively subsidized as a way to gain hard currency for the gov't. A huge portion of China's positive TB is in private investment, the gov't only gets a slice of it. The aquaculture industry is mostly state owned.
One of the most eggregious aspects of this is that they are using USDA genetic selection program shrimp as stock. We have taxpayer subsidized research into selecting shrimp with good growth and disease tolerance in aquaculture environments. These improved strains of shrimp have massively improved the Chi-coms aquaculture industry. After tens (hundreds?) of millions of taxpayer funded research, the Chicoms bought miproved broodstock shrimp for a few hundred bucks. Another aspect of the dumping are the trace anti-biotics. The EU blocked all Chinese shrimp when there were trace amounts of banned for human consumption anti-biotics found, but they were under the threshhold of American standards. So it all got dumped here.
How this all plays out is what is an appropriate tariff. If it is narrowly targetted at the Chicoms, I fully support it, and it won't have much effect on shrimp price. If it is too broad, especially if it affects countries like Ecuador and Thailand, then it is trade protection and is inappropriate.
Heads up!
Kemah Slippers
Laugh!
Mexico is dumping "cheap" laborers on Americans. Can we get some action on that too so the cost of labor will "come in line with what the true market price" for labor "should be"?
Didn't think so. Our nation's politicians are SO bought.
Not me. The Jumbos are already out of my price range - $12.99 per pound.
Let's all take a moment to recall that the price of shrimp skyrocketed when the enviros pushed through a drag-net ban in florida.
I give up.
How long overdue, are increases to tariffs?
A week? Two weeks? How was that determined?
...
The duty on imported shrimp is how much, now?
The proposed duty is how much?
Numbers, please.
This is an action that impacts locally, at least on the coast. For or against? It would be interesting to know where DeMint stands on this one too.
Go to the google news section, put in the words "shrimp, commerce" and you will get a plethora of articles.
Thank you for your informed information and comment. I am mostly against tarrifs and such and ultimately think that the consumer should get the ultimate benefit. Also if the govt. would get out of the way maybe a domestic shrimp farming industry could develop.
Here is a link to an Associated Press story about this.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040706/shrimp_dumping_8.html
WTF?
113 percent duty on Chinese shrimp?
I thought that China was a 'most-favored-nation'???
We well save a Freeper table for you!
Thanks for the information. I am getting an education about the shrimp industry. Looks like the chicoms could just switch thier production to Central America, wish they were Central American owned, though.
I feel sorry for the shrimp boaters, but progress keeps marching on and consumers should be able to share in that.
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