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Issue link: https://seafoodbusiness.epubxp.com/i/112398
Top Story Photo by James Wright Domestic shrimp harvesters and processors say imports have an unfair advantage. The two-way street Countervailing duties on imported shrimp could harm trade relations, might not help domestic industry product in the marketplace by a 9-to-1 margin. Te only merica���s favorite seafood is once again in way to level the playing ���eld, the middle of an international trade con���ict. they contend, is to seek tari��� This one pits U.S. ���shermen and processors relief from the imports that against seven foreign governments accused have forced them to underof giving shrimp exporters an unfair cut their prices to compete or advantage, via subsidies, in a competitive merely keep their businesses market. Because when it comes to selling a���oat. Tey���ve lost market shrimp, price speaks loudest. And in a price battle between share and jobs and fear the wild American shrimp and their pond-raised counterparts extinction of their proud, yet from Southeast Asia and South America, the domestic product aging, industry. almost always gets the short end of the stick. ���I���m looking to get out,��� says Craig Wallis, a 60-yearDomestic shrimp com- struggling harvesters and old shrimp boat owner in Papanies cite an urgent need distributors from a crush lacios, Texas, who���s worked to protect the livelihoods of of imports that dwarf their Gulf of Mexico waters since BY JAMES WRIGHT A 28 SeaFood Business March 2013 1975. Nearly all the money he brings in pays for fuel, labor and maintenance for his seven trawlers, some of which are in need of repairs. Tere might be 2 or 3 percent left over for him because of rising costs and prices that match what he was getting for his shrimp back in the 1980s. ���I���ve had family members who want to be in the business, but I can���t with con���dence say this business is going to be around ��� maybe it���s a business this country doesn���t need. Tere���s no doubt that [imports] are the No. 1 reason.��� Te wheels for the latest legal maneuver were set in motion on Dec. 28, 2012, when the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) ���led a countervailing duty (CVD) petition against the United States��� top imported shrimp suppliers. Opponents say the move is pure protectionism and could harm U.S. relations with valued trading partners. Embrace the globalization of the seafood industry or perish, they argue, because nothing will stop the ���ow of shrimp into the U.S. market, even tari���s on shrimp imported from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tailand and Vietnam. Duties could raise shrimp prices on restaurant menus and in supermarkets, all at a time when consumers are particularly price-sensitive. But many U.S. shrimp importers say punitive taxes on their businesses are hardly a cure for what ails the ���shing ���eet and its distressed supply chain. ���Tese cases are an enormous waste of resources. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, [a trade barrier] doesn���t really do what Visit us online at www.seafoodbusiness.com