US govt notifies cut in anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimps

Duty on frozen warm water shrimp fixed at 0.84%, applies to 231 exporters

The United States, the largest market for Indian shrimp exporters, has notified a reduction in anti-dumping duty on the perishable items in its federal register.

The duty on frozen warm water shrimp from India is fixed at 0.84 per cent. The period of review (POR) is February 1, 2015, through January 31, 2016.

On March 6, 2017, the Department of Commerce published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warm water shrimps from India.

The US had pegged its preliminary anti-dumping duty on the perishable item at an average rate of 1.07 per cent.

While the new rate for Falcon Marine, the largest seafood exporter in the country, has been set at zero per cent, for Liberty Group it is 0.84 per cent. Both Falcon Marine and Liberty Group were mandatory respondents to the review. The new rates of 0.84 per cent will be applicable for 231 exporters from India.

The reduction in the rates has come as a relief when the Indian seafood sector was gripped by uncertainties.

This year the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) voted to extend the anti-dumping orders on imports of frozen warm water shrimp for five more years.

The American Shrimp Processors Association has named India, along with Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, China, and Malaysia, as seven of the 13 countries with which the US ran a significant shrimp trade deficit in 2016.

The US imported 188,617 tonnes of Indian seafood in 2016-17. Export to the US registered growth rates of 22.72 per cent, 33 per cent, and 29.82 per cent in terms of quantity, rupee value, and dollar value, respectively.

"The duty rate is changing from year to year. The lower rate essentially means there is no dumping in the US and the reduction in the duty helps in boosting the trade", said a trade source.