Asia slams U.S. agency over shrimp

Asia slams U.S. agency over shrimp

Associated Press, Hanoi

Asian shrimp exporters on Thursday said a U.S. antidumping lawsuit is an example of blatant protectionism - and vowed to fight to keep overseas shrimp on American dinner plates.

The U.S. Southern Shrimp Alliance filed the suit Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission against Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Brazil and Ecuador.

The alliance, an eight-state group of shrimpers and processors, claims those countries have dumped shrimp on the U.S. market at unfairly low prices, crippling their industry in the United States. They want the government to impose tariffs on imported shrimp.

But exporters from the targeted Asian countries - representing three of the biggest exporters of shrimp to the United States - argue they've done nothing wrong, and say the suit is just an example of Americans ignoring free trade to protect their own interests.

A ruling on the suit is expected by mid-February.

"This move goes against the trend of global trade liberalization to which the United States claims they are the champion," said Nguyen Van Kich of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, which has retained U.S. attorneys to fight the suit.

The United States buys the biggest portion of its imported shrimp from Thailand, shipping in about 176,000 metric tons (194,000 U.S. tons) worth US$1.1 billion in 2002, according to Thai figures. Officials there say U.S. sanctions would force them to seek new markets for 30 percent to 50 percent of their shrimp exports.

"It won't be easy because there are only three main shrimp markets in the world - America, Japan, and the E.U.," said Somsak Paneetathayasai, president of Thailand's Black Tiger Shrimp Farmers, Producers and Exporters Association.

He said the Commerce Ministry has promised to help the industry fight the suit.

The Southern Shrimp Alliance claims the value of U.S.- harvested shrimp was cut in half - from $1.25 billion in 2000 to $560 million in 2002 - with a 40 percent drop in employment at Southern shrimp plants. Meanwhile, it says imports from the six targeted countries increased from 210 million kilograms (466 million pounds) in 2000 to 351 million kilograms (780 million pounds) in 2003.

The European Union and Japan have recently clamped down on shrimp imports because of concerns about antibiotics in farm- raised shrimp, forcing more exporters into the American market at lower prices. The U.S. shrimpers' group claims American imports are not held to the same health and safety standards as domestic shrimp.

But Abraham Tharakan, president of the Seafood Exporters Association of India, called the suit "unfair and discriminatory."

"We export quality products," he said.

Seafood exporters in Asia are trying to form an alliance to fight the suit, and the Indian government will be asked to help, Tharakan said.

The United States is India's second-largest shrimp buyer after Japan. Nearly a quarter of India's shrimp exporters' US$1 billion-plus earnings come from American imports, Tharakan said.

China's Commerce Ministry did not answer repeated phone calls to its offices Thursday. Neither its Web site nor the official Xinhua News Agency carried any reaction from Beijing.

In Vietnam, officials are especially concerned because the International Trade Commission ruled in July that the communist country dumped catfish on the U.S. market. The commission imposed duties ranging from 36.84 percent to 63.88 percent on Vietnamese catfish exporters.

But Vietnam's catfish industry is tiny compared to its shrimp business. In 2002, the country was the United States' second- largest shrimp supplier with exports worth $467.3 million, compared to just $55 million for catfish.