Reactions to countervailing duty petition on imported shrimp

Against the move, some related countries have claims on allegations by the group.

VASEP has proof to combat to US shrimpers

Vietnam’s government has not been subsidizing any of its shrimp farmers and exporters’ operations, according to Tran Thien Hai, president of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

He was responding in a statement on US companies’ filing of an anti-subsidy lawsuit against Vietnamese shrimp and other prominent shrimp farming countries. The US producers also requested that the US International Trade Commission (USITC) review losses caused to the domestic shrimping sector as a result of cheaper imports.

US shrimpers allege that the imports are unfairly low in price and devastate their competitive edge.

Now, Vietnam has complained that the DOC has not reversed duties applied against Vietnamese shrimp exporters. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP, underscored that Vietnam has evidence to combat the attack by COGSI.

“We should understand that disputes among companies in the same industry inside and outside the nation are unavoidable,” Hoe said.

“If COGSI has evidence to persuade DOC to launch the anti-subsidy investigation, VASEP on behalf of local shrimp exporters will also have proof to show their accusation is not right.”

VASEP has got in touch with Vietnamese companies to inform them of the case and encourage them to get the necessary documents ready in case they are approached regarding the investigation, he noted.

Ecuador joins fight against US shrimpers’ dumping petition

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.

“I’ve read the case, and all the things that they mention are not subsidies,” he said.

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.

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.

India sending delegation to U.S. as concerns rise over shrimp countervailing duty threat

India will send a delegation of professionals, including MPEDA officials and members of Seafood Exporters Association to the US in the backdrop of America’s move to impose countervailing duty on the seafood industry, an official said today.

The proposed move will be ‘a big blow’ to the seafood industry, which is already passing through a ‘tough phase’ as marine exports have registered a decline of 6.91 per cent in quantity and 16.60 per cent in dollar earnings in April-September 2012-13, Norbert Karikkassery, President of Seafood Exporters Association, Kerala said.

Thailand shrimp industry 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.