US hikes anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimps, exports may fall

The preliminary average duty has been increased to 4.89% in the 10th annual review of dumping duties, compared to 2.96% in the ninth review

The US government has raised the anti-dumping duty on import of frozen shrimps from India, and the exporters apprehend drop in exports.

The preliminary average duty has been increased to 4.89 per cent in 10th annual review of dumping duties, compared to 2.96 per cent in ninth review which covered February 1, 2013 , through January 31, 2014 .

The USA Department of Commerce (DOC) is recommending leading exporters Falcon Marine's duty be cut from 2.63 per cent to 0.80 per cent. Liberty Group, which was not included in the ninth review, was given a preliminary duty of 8.32 per cent.

Exporters say it may have an impact on the exports from country as USA is the largest market for Indian shrimps.

" Lot of Indian exporters will switch to other markets which are erratic. It will not fetch better realizations. If alternative markets do not behave accordingly the exports market may crash. We have no other means but to passing it on the aquaculture farmers The exports may fall value wise", said Ajay Dash, president , the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), Odisha region.

Ministry of commerce should come forward and take a delegation including the exporters to US to sort out the issue, he added.

The final duties might be different from the preliminary duties. DOC is scheduled to issue the final duties in the Federal Register, which will be sometime in early July 2016. However the preliminary duty remains more or less same, Dash said.

The proposed increase in the anti-dumping duty to almost 4.98% from the existing 2.96 per cent ( country average ) may severely impact exports to the USA apprehend the seafood exporting community. USA continues to be the largest market for Indian seafood with a market share of about 29 per cent. Major leading exporters have a USA based marketing orientation and the production line is tuned accordingly. Such a move would also make seafood from India less competitive in pricing terms and we may lose out in competition to competitors from Vietnam , Indonesia and other countries, said Rajen Padhi, director, Exim consultant (seafood trader).

However , these findings are preliminary in nature and the final duties for the period of review February 1, 2015 - January, 31, 2016 would be declared in July or August. The Liberty group who has been given highest duty of 8.32 per cent is certain of filing an appeal for review, Padhi added.

Vietnam's average duty is pegged at 3.56 per cent, unchanged from the ninth review. For Thailand, the new average preliminary duty is 1.36 per cent compared to 1.10 per cent in the ninth review per cent.