May 20, 2004

US Delays Decision On Penalty Tariffs For Imported Shrimp

The US Commerce Department announced Wednesday that it was delaying a decision on whether to impose penalty tariffs on imported shrimp until July because of the case's complicated nature.

The department said it would make a preliminary determination on shrimp imported from China and Vietnam on July 6, and a preliminary determination on shrimp imported from Brazil, Ecuador, India and Thailand on July 29.

Claiming that they are being driven out of business by unfair foreign competition, US shrimp producers have asked the government to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 30 percent to more than 300 percent on imports from these countries.

The department is trying to determine whether shrimp from these countries was being sold in the United States at unfairly low prices, a process known as dumping. It had originally set a June 8 deadline to conclude its investigation.

It was extending the investigation because "the case is unusually complex, involving multiple countries and numerous respondents," said the department.

If the department determines that dumping penalties should be imposed, the case will go to the US International Trade Commission which will make a final determination on whether US industry is being harmed by the imports.

The case will then return to the Commerce Department which will set the final dumping penalties.