More than 20 Chinese shrimp producers have united to form an
alliance to fight anti-dumping charges in the United States.
The US Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a suit Wednesday with the
US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission
(ITC) against farm-raised shrimp from China, Thailand, Vietnam,
India, Brazil and Ecuador.
The US alliance claimed the six countries had dumped shrimp on
the US market at below cost prices, triggering a plunge in the
value of US-harvested shrimp from US$1.25 billion in 2000 to US$559
million in 2002.
Chinese shrimp farmers from Guangdong,
Guangxi
and Fujian
have given notice to the ITC, via their US lawyers, that they
intend to respond to the case.
The US industry group represents shrimpers in Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Texas.
The Chinese alliance's spokesman said Chinese shrimp exporters
in the southern province of Guangdong knew a year ago that the US
alliance was considering lawsuits against shrimp imports from
China, and founded the Alliance of Guangdong's Shrimp Exporters
Responding to US Anti-dumping Charges. It employed lawyers from
Beijing, Guangdong and Washington to prepare for their case.
Having received the investigation notice from the ITC, the
alliance convened immediately despite the New Year holiday, and
shrimp producers and exporters from provinces like Guangxi, Fujian,
Liaoning
joined the group.
The organization is considering changing its name to the South
China Shrimpers Alliance.
The alliance says China is expected to face the highest rate of
duties -- between 119 percent and 267 percent -- of the six
countries named in the suit.
The Chinese alliance said the US shrimpers group's claims were
groundless, as the American Seafood Distributors Association said
in a statement, "These countries can produce shrimp at a much lower
cost through farming than can domestic fishermen, who face very
high and rapidly increasing fuel, gear, and labor costs.
"The domestic shrimp industry has failed to anticipate the
dramatic change in production methods from fishing to farming," the
association added.
The European Union and Japan have recently clamped down on
shrimp imports because of health concerns about antibiotics in
farm-raised shrimp. That forced many exporters into the US market,
and contributed to the downward slide in prices.
One Chinese shrimp producer said, "The Chinese government gives
no subsidies to the shrimping industry. If we sell at below-cost
prices or prices lower than in the domestic market, we can't afford
it."
Chinese shrimp exports are mainly from southern China. Shrimp
exports are a major source of income for fishermen in coastal
areas, and Guangdong is the most important shrimp producing area in
the country.
Guangdong's shrimp exports to the United States are estimated at
US$100 million annually, which will be "hit badly" if the
anti-dumping tariffs were imposed.
Other Asian shrimp exporters like Vietnam and India are also
preparing to fight the US lawsuit, which they described was an
example of blatant protectionism.
(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2004)