U.S. Upholds Tariffs on Shrimp Imports

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Monday upheld the imposition of penalty tariffs on shrimp imports from Brazil, Ecuador, India and Thailand.

The move won praise from U.S. shrimp producers but drew criticism from importers, who said the penalty tariffs would drive up food costs for consumers.

The Commerce Department ruling affirmed with slight modifications a preliminary ruling reached in late July that the four countries were selling shrimp in the United States at unfairly low prices, a practice known as dumping.

The department imposed antidumping tariffs on shrimp imported from the four countries ranging from 9.69 percent to 67.8 percent for Brazil, 2.35 percent to 4.48 percent for Ecuador, 5.02 percent to 13.42 percent for India, and 5.79 percent to 6.82 percent for Thailand.

The penalty tariffs, which are already being collected subject to a possible refund, will be made final in late January if the U.S. International Trade Commission upholds its preliminary ruling that U.S. shrimp producers are being harmed by the imports.

The Commerce Department had ruled late last month that imports of shrimp from two other countries — China and Vietnam — were being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices and imposed antidumping duties on those two nations.

Together, the six countries provide about 75 percent of the shrimp that Americans eat.

U.S. food distributors complained that the penalty tariffs will drive up shrimp prices at restaurants and grocery stores.

"During this holiday season, the Commerce Department says 'Bah humbug' to American consumers who have come to enjoy eating affordable shrimp dishes in restaurants and at their dinner tables," said Wally Stevens, president of the American Seafood Distributors Association. "American families need to stop being penalized and taxed by their government when a tiny industry refuses to compete or restructure."

The dumping case was brought by the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee, whose members are located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Texas.

Representatives of this group said that the government's action would save thousands of American jobs in an industry that has suffered severe financial losses because of unfair trading practices of other countries.

"It is hard to watch entire communities in Louisiana become ghost towns due to unfair trade," said Kim Chauvin of Chauvin, La. "Some of the world's most technologically advanced boats have been repossessed by banks and families have been forced to abandon their way of life."

There are a few things that developing nations can just do better than developed

Why? Because developed countries like the US have had their governments tie up land by taking it our of private hands that could be used for shrimp ponds with sustainable development environmental regulations?

Or is it because the third world governments subsidize their shrimp industries so that they can put US shrimp farmers out of business?

And then there is the cool labels. The WTO now wants to get rid of country of origin labels so you won't even know where the shrimp on your table comes from. Is that because third world shrimp farmers produce a better product, or is it because they want to tie the hands of the US producer and rid them of a marketing tool. A lot of Americans prefer American shrimp because our food production rules are much more stringent.

The US supplies all the equipment and a lot of the food and technologies these third world shrimp farmers use. Just because we export the technology, does that mean we are not smart enough to use it ourselves?

For those who think SE Asian shrimp is grand, here is food for thought.

China's Shrimp Production Booming But Antibiotics Cause Concern

For China's struggling farmers, it is said that one sure road to riches is to turn a plot of land into a concrete pool and fill it with shrimp.

Shrimp farming and other forms of aquaculture have taken off in China, spreading to every province and region except Tibet.

The number of shrimp farmers has nearly doubled in five years, reaching 300,000 last year, up from 170,000 in 1997. They pushed China's total shrimp production up to 400,000 tons in 2001, a 32 percent increase over the previous year. Production of farmed shrimp grew even faster, jumping by 40 percent to 304,000 tons in 2001.

It's a trend the government is encouraging as it seeks ways to address both rural poverty and overfishing of its seas. But the rapid growth in shrimp farms has had its nasty side effects. Water pollution and unchecked use of banned antibiotics are two of the biggest problems.

China's shrimp farmers also are making waves abroad. The European Union has banned imports of Chinese shrimp. U.S. shrimpers are calling for similar action

The European ban on Chinese shrimp and prawns was announced last January after inspectors found chloramphenicol, an antibiotic banned in Europe, the United States and, since 1999, in China as well.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which monitors and inspects imported food, imposes restrictions by company. It has banned shrimp from two companies in China, as well as several in Thailand and Vietnam, because of chloramphenicol.

A Chinese reporter who traveled to Fujian and Guangxi, two southern coastal provinces with large amounts of aquaculture, found banned substances were widely available.

'The production, sales and use of antibiotics for fish breeding is out of control,' a report by China's official Xinhua News Agency said in December. 'Even veterinarians are selling it.'

Though China banned chloramphenicol in 1999, several hundred factories were producing it in 2000, the Xinhua report said.

Shrimp farmers sometimes don't know what substances are banned and complain of getting little guidance from authorities. When disease breaks out --- which is not uncommon because of China's short production cycles and high-density farming --- farmers often throw in whatever antibiotic or treatment is available.

Another problem is pollution. Shrimp farming can be damaging to the ecosystem because of the large volume of expelled water, which is full of shrimp waste. If the wastewater is not treated properly, the damage to the surrounding area can be devastating.

China announced rules on water management and treatment less than two years ago and has not yet implemented them nationwide. Even where there are rules, they are flouted, worrying scientists and environmentalists.

'Some shrimp farms have started in areas . . . with seaweed and shellfish, and the shrimp farming has affected the biological diversity,' said Cai Shengli, a professor at the Shanghai Fishery University. 'The other species can't survive.'

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