Trade group works with Ecuadorian government to respond to ITC's questionnaire.
The US International Trade Commission is issuing a call for questionnaires from targeted foreign shrimpers and exporters by Friday, and foreign trade groups and governments are busy preparing to turn theirs in.
This is phase one of the ITC's investigation into whether to honor a petition from the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI). The group represents shrimp fishermen in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas who say they have lost US market share to lower-priced imports from the six countries in Asia and the one in South America. -- China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Ecuador.
The group formed in an effort to file a countervailing petition seeking a 21 percent duty on imports from seven countries.
Ecuadorian trade group Camara Nacional de Acuacultura (CMA) calls the shrimpers' claims untrue and is in the process of working with the government to respond to the petition, José Antonio Camposan, executive vice president for the association, told IntraFish on Wednesday.
"I've read the case, and all the things that they mention are not subsidies," said Campesono.
Nathalie Cely, the ambassador for Ecuador to the United States, is in Washington D.C. helping to prepare Ecuador's reply, he said.
Even though Camposeno is confident Ecuadorian shrimp exporters do not receive subsidies, he is less confident the US government will act in Ecuador's favor.
"This is not an easy case," Campesono said.
Whether or not US shrimpers are successful in their attempt to get duties of 20 percent on imports is yet to be seen.
Countervailing duties could take affect at the end of the year, according to the coalition.
Travis Larkin, president of the Ecuadorian shrimp importer Seafood Exchange, told IntraFish he does not know of any subsidies that foreign shrimp companies receive. He is expecting continued growth in the Ecuadorian shrimp sector over the coming year.
The petition also includes a request for duties on shrimp from China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
India has already issued a statement of opposition to the petition.
In Thailand, the industry has "consistently argued that farmed shrimp is always cheaper than those caught at sea, so the US Gulf fishermen are trying to compare apples and oranges," reports the Bangkok Post.