More Gulf of Mexico shrimpers want to participate in shrimp subsidy fight

Two Gulf of Mexico shrimp groups on Tuesday informed federal agencies that several more shrimp industry businesses would like to participate in the federal investigation of subsidized shrimp imports. The Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries, which mainly consists of shrimp processors, filed petitions on Dec. 28 seeking "countervailing duties," duties imposed to offset subsidies on shrimp by foreign governments.

The coalition states that the duties are needed on shrimp from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam? "to offset the unfair trade advantage currently held by these countries." The coalition and the Southern Shrimp Alliance each filed briefs with the government on Tuesday, noting various other shrimp? businesses that would like to participate.

On Friday, the Ad Hoc Shrimp Industry Committee, a legal group formed by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, filed a request to participate in the U.S. International Trade Commission's investigation into alleged subsidies of foreign shrimp imports. And on Monday, it was named a party to the investigation.

Although the alliance has not taken a position on the issue, participation in the proceedings facilitates the domestic industry's capacity to monitor developments.

The U.S. Department of Commerce will decide by Thursday whether there is sufficient industry support for trade relief to launch full investigations of foreign subsidies to shrimp exporters. On Friday, the International Trade Commission is scheduled to hold a staff conference as part of their preliminary investigation as to whether the domestic shrimp industry was materially injured by imports.

Also on Tuesday, Indonesian shrimp exporters were scheduled to give an explanation to the International Trade Commission, with Indonesian Fisheries Product Processing and Marketing Association Chairman Thomas Darmawan saying that 13 local firms would provide information as required by the commission, according to an article published on Tuesday in The Jakarta Post, a daily English language newspaper in Indonesia.

The newspaper reports that the Indonesian Trade Ministry's acting director general for foreign trade, Bachrul Chairi, said he hoped the United States would not impose an anti-subsidy duty because it would disrupt shipments of shrimp to the U.S., currently Indonesia's largest shrimp export destination, making up 48.2 percent of Indonesia's total global shrimp exports.

Source: http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2013/01/more_gulf_of_mexico_shrimpers.html

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