The Hindu Business Line : US slaps 14.2 pc duty on shrimp from India

THE US Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determination in the anti-dumping investigation and imposed 14.2 per cent duty on shrimp imports from India.

At a press meet here on Friday, Mr G. Mohan Kumar, Chairman of the Marine Products Export Development Authority, and Mr A.J. Tharakan, President of the Seafood Exporters' Association of India, said it was a considerable setback to the industry, but it had the resilience to withstand it and make up for it in the other major markets — the European Union and Japan. Further, all attempts would be made to bring down, or even nullify, the duty rate in the final determination, they said.

Mr Mohan Kumar said the US Department of Commerce had imposed 27.49 per cent duty on Hindustan Lever, 9.16 per cent duty on Nekkanti Seafoods and 3.56 per cent duty on Devi Seafoods. The other companies would have to pay the weighted average of 14.20 per cent.

"We are not happy with the preliminary determination of duty rates. The final determination would be on December 16 and we will fight the case further and try to bring it down to zero level," he said.

On the possible impact, he said that India was comparatively better placed than the other countries. "China has to pay 49 per cent, Brazil (36.91 per cent), Vietnam (16.01 per cent), Equador (07.3 per cent) and Thailand (06.39 per cent).

"Of all these countries, Vietnam is our competitor because they export the same kind of shrimp as we do. But they have to pay more duty than us. So we do not envisage a fall in exports,'' he said.

During 2003, shrimp exports to the US from India amounted to $ 403 million. Of the shrimp exported from India, the US accounted for 29 per cent, the European Union (26 per cent) and Japan (22 per cent), he said.

Mr Tharakan said exports to Japan had been sluggish during the past two to three years due to the slowdown of the economy. "But we expect to do better in Japan this year and we have no problems in the European Union. Still, the US move is a heavy blow. It is most unwarranted from a so-called champion of the free trade like the US," he said.

He said the seafood industry in the US was hardly able to meet 10 per cent of the domestic demand and therefore the step was all the more surprising.

Ms Elizabeth Levinson, representing the law firm fighting the case on behalf of Indian exporters, said the general perception that dumping duty would be imposed for selling below production cost was not correct.

"The methodology adopted is that the price at which the Indian exporter is selling in the US market is compared to the price in another major market. For instance, the price at which Nekkanti Seafoods is selling shrimp has been compared with the selling price in Japan, that of Devi Seafoods with the price in Canada and that of the HLL with the price in Spain," she said.

Our Kochi Bureau reports: The US has calculated the duties by applying certain methods and practices that are unique to the US anti-dumping laws, a release from the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said.

"Consequently, the levy of provisional or final anti-dumping duties does not mean, by normal commercial or accounting measures, that the Indian seafood exporters sold shrimp in the US below cost," it added.

The investigation will now move into the final determination stage. As part of this process, the officials of the US Department of Commerce will visit India in August-September for on-site verification of the information and data submitted by the mandatory respondents in the course of the preliminary phase of the investigation.

The final rates of duties are to be notified by the first week of February 2005.

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