Posted on 07/15/2003 2:14:01 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to keep the anti-dumping tariff on Chinese crawfish tail meat for another five years - a move that spares the south Louisiana crawfish industry, officials say.
"We won!" said a jubilant state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom.
In deciding on whether to keep the five-year tariff, the commission looked at how sanctions hurt and benefit the crawfish industry.
The 4-0 ITC ruling, made at the commission meeting in Washington, D.C., was based on the likelihood that removing the import duties would "lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time."
Tariffs were imposed after the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled in September 1997 that Chinese meat tails were dumped on the United States.
Odom told the commission on June 2 that Louisiana crawfish farmers and processors needed the tariff to keep cheap imports from flooding the domestic markets.
"Without this positive vote, the Louisiana crawfish industry would have been dead in the water," Odom said.
U.S. Sen. John Breaux, D-La., who also urged the ITC to keep the antidumping order, hailed the decision, saying the "unfair trade practice ... hurts our local communities."
Not everyone agreed.
"This decision hurts the American consumer," said Mike Bernstein, spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc. in Orlando, Fla. Darden purchases 1 million pounds of frozen crawfish tails from China for its 1,270 chain stores consisting of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze and Smokey Bones restaurants.
Bernstein said not enough crawfish is produced domestically for Darden's use.
In Louisiana, though, the news was met with cheers.
"It's such a small part of the U.S. economy. But in South Louisiana, it's almost like Christmas in other areas," said Dexter Guillory, a crawfish farmer and processor, who represents the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association on the Louisiana Seafood Promotion Board.
The total economic impact of Louisiana crawfish is estimated to be more than $100 million. But in recent years, the crawfish industry in Louisiana has eroded.
In 1996, there were about 80 crawfish processors in Louisiana, but that number is now down to as few as 24, according to John Steinberger, a lawyer working for the Agriculture Department.
Guillory said locals couldn't compete when it cost them $5.50 per pound for the tail meat, while Chinese crawfish came in at a fraction.
State processors in Eunice, St. Martinville and Henderson felt the bulk of the Chinese crawfish invasion.
"Their $1.50 stuff is killing us," said Terry Guidry, a crawfish processor in St. Martinville who showed up to the June 2 meeting with bags and receipts of cheap imports purchased at local groceries. "We just want a fighting chance."
Duffy Landry, a crawfish wholesaler and retailer in Pierre Part, echoed the sentiment.
"I'm sure glad they passed it," Landry said.
Steinberger said tariffs have had mixed results on the price of Chinese crawfish meat. He said many importers manage to bypass the tariffs.
Odom told the commission that Louisiana would help U.S. Customs with enforcement. Chinese crawfish importers will be required to post a $50,000 bond. The bond will deter the new shippers from illegally dumping crawfish because they will forfeit the bond if caught, Odom said.
"Before, they didn't lose anything," he said. "They would go back to China and that was the end of it."
Fair Trade, NOT Free Trade.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.