US anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp cut to 1.7%

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has announced the preliminary results of the fifth administrative review of the anti-dumping duty on shrimp exported from India. The average duty for India has been reduced to 1.69 per cent from 2.67 per cent.

Falcon Marine Exports Limited and Apex Exports, the two mandatory respondents of the review, will attract a duty of 1.36 per cent and 2.31 per cent respectively. These rates are effective for a period of one year, commencing from February 1, 2009.

The DoC had issued a notice for the 5th AR in last April on petitions filed by Southern Shrimp Alliance [SSA] and Lousiana Shrimpers Association [LSA], two US organisations of shrimp producers. They had requested a review of exports by 202 Indian companies, DoC selected two Indian companies for a detailed examination.

The anti-dumping duty on frozen shrimp imports from India into the US was imposed provisionally with effect from August 4, 2004 and the levy was confirmed through the Anti Dumping Duty Order dated February 1, 2005. Since then, frozen shrimp from India entering the US is subjected to anti-dumping duty. As per the order in 2005, the average duty imposed on Indian companies was 10.17 per cent and in the first AR this was reduced to 7.22 per cent. This was further reduced to 1.69 per cent in the second AR and to 0.79 per cent in the third review. But, to the dismay of Indian exporters, the duty was hiked to 2.67 per cent in the next round. The Indian seafood export sector was actually hoping for nil duty as the duty was being reduced in each round of the AR. [Duty below 0.50 per cent is considered as nil duty.]

The US is the second largest importer of Indian seafood, with a share of 17.43 per cent of the total Indian seafood exports of 547,249 tonnes valued at Rs 9187.18 crore in the April-December period of the current financial year.

The US market registered a remarkable growth of 110.68 per cent in US$ realization and 49.13 per cent in terms of quantity during the period. The US contribution was 10.09 per cent of the total export earnings in 2009-10. The US is a major market for Indian shrimp as more than 50 per cent of their total import is from India. Therefore, the result of the 5th AR is crucial to the Indian seafood sector.

DoC and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) initiated a sunset review of the anti-dumping duty in January, 2010. DOC will examine the possibility of recurring dumping if the anti-dumping duties are revoked and ITC will examine whether the injury to local shrimp production would continue or recur if the duties are revoked. They will conduct proceedings separately but it would be significant if either of them agrees to the revocation.