US govt selects two firms for anti-dumping fifth review

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has selected two Indian seafood export companies, Falcon Marine and Apex Exports as mandatory respondents for the fifth administrative review (AR) of the anti-dumping duty on import of shrimp from India.

This is the first time that Apex Exports is selected as mandatory respondent while Falcon was included in all the ARs so far. The DoC had issued notice for the fifth AR in this April according to a petition filed by the two US shrimp producers, the Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) and Lousiana Shrimpers Association (LSA). They had requested to review the exports of 203 Indian companies, but DoC selected two Indian companies for detailed examination.

The anti-dumping duty on frozen shrimp imports to 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.

According to the order in 2005, the average duty imposed on Indian companies was 10.17 per cent and in the first AR it 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 zero duty. The Indian seafood exporters, led by the Seafood Exporters Association of India, presented their case promptly, but the US authorities hiked the duty. So the 5th AR is crucial for the sector.