This morning, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided to continue the countervailing duty cases brought against imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from seven countries through a 5 to 1 vote. Only Commissioner Daniel Pearson voted against continuing the cases. The Commission’s determination this morning marks only the fifth time in twenty antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings over the last three years that the Commission’s preliminary vote was not unanimously in favor of continuing an unfair trade investigation.
Following the Commission’s decision, the U.S. Department of Commerce will evaluate claims that countervailable subsidies have been granted to foreign shrimp exporters in China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. If Commerce makes affirmative preliminary determinations that countervailable subsidies have been granted, the Commission will conduct a final investigation to determine whether the domestic shrimp industry is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by reason of unfairly traded imports.
In their sole legal brief to the Commission, the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) again requested that the Commission define the domestic shrimp industry to include only U.S. processors of frozen warmwater shrimp. For its part, the Ad Hoc Shrimp Industry Committee submitted legal argument supporting a finding that the domestic shrimp industry be again defined to include both harvesters and processors of shrimp. The Commission’s vote today did not specifically address the appropriate definition of the domestic shrimp industry.
The Ad Hoc Shrimp Industry Committee is currently composed of 409 companies, organizations, and shrimpers participating in the shrimp industry. The Committee’s membership includes 11 different organizations representing various interests in the shrimp industry, 41 shrimp processors, and 334 shrimp harvesters and farmers.
Review the narrative portion of COGSI’s post-conference brief to the Commission:https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/COGSI-Brief-Narrative.pdf
Review the narrative portion of the Ad Hoc Shrimp Industry Committee’s brief to the Commission:https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AHSIC-Narrative.pdf
A listing of the constituent membership of the Ad Hoc Shrimp Industry Committee can be reviewed here:https://shrimpalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ITC-Letter-Amending-Entry-of-Appearance-Feb-1.pdf