June 24, 2004

 

 

Tariffs Would Send US Shrimp Prices Up
 

Tariffs on imported shrimp would drive up prices by as much as 44 percent, a coalition of US shrimp importers, restaurants and grocery chains said Wednesday -- a contention sharply disputed by tariff supporters.

 

The issue in question is a report commissioned by The Trade Partnership, which opposes a drive by Southern shrimpers to get duties imposed on about $2.3 billion in cheap, pond-raised shrimp from some of the top shrimp exporters -- six South American and Asian countries.

 

The report was the latest salvo between the two sides in the run-up to rulings expected next month by the U.S. Department of Commerce, to determine if shrimp has been dumped at unfair prices.

 

The antidumping petition, organized by the eight-state Southern Shrimp Alliance, was filed on December 31, 2003. The petition seeks duties to help the U.S. shrimp fishery compete with pond-raised imports.

 

According to the report, overall shrimp prices would increase by 44 percent. Meanwhile, the price of U.S. harvested shrimp would go up by 28 percent while the price of shrimp from the targeted countries would jump by 84 percent. Shrimp from other countries would go up by 19 percent because of the increase in demand.

 

The Trade Partnership also said that consumption of shrimp could drop by a third because of skyrocketing prices.

 

"Just as shrimp consumption in American homes is soaring and all kinds of restaurants are offering more shrimp items than ever, the entire industry is threatened by price hikes," said Wally Stevens, president of the American Seafood Distributors Association.

 

Stevens' group and the pro-free trade group Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition paid for the studies.

 

Deborah Regan, a spokeswoman for the Southern Shrimp Alliance, dismissed the report as flawed.

 

For example, she said, the findings are based on duty rates that have not been approved.

 

Regan added that "plenty of legally traded shrimp will be available to consumers in the future." She said Mexico and Indonesia, for instance, could fill in the market. And she said it is impossible to predict what will happen to the worldwide shrimp supply.

 

The six countries targeted by the petition -- China, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Brazil and Ecuador -- make up about 70 percent of the imported shrimp.