Shrimp producers in Zhejiang
and Guangdong
provinces have responded to a US anti-dumping charge threatening
hefty tariffs on Chinese shrimp exporters.
Major shrimp producers in China, who export some US$800 million
worth of shrimp each year, have hired lawyers to fight the case,
said officials with Zhejiang Zhoushan Aquatic Export
Association.
"If the verdict is against Chinese exporters, heavy tariffs will
deal a great blow to China's shrimp industry," said Zhou Zhenhai,
deputy secretary general of the aquatic export association.
The?US Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a complaint late last
year with the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade
Commission against farm-raised shrimp originating in China,
Thailand, Vietnam, India, Brazil and Ecuador.
The?US alliance said in a statement that imports from the
six countries had been sold in the US at unfairly low prices for
years, causing domestic shrimp sales to drop to US$559 million in
2002 from US$1.25 billion in 2000.
Many of the 40 Chinese shrimp producers involved in the suit are
based in China's eastern and southern coastal provinces like
Zhejiang, Fujian
and Guangdong.
Shrimp exports are a major source of income for fishermen in
those coastal areas.
For Zhejiang, home to a thriving seafood industry, shrimp
exports totaled 498.7 tons in the first 11 months of last year,
half of which were sent to the United States, according to local
customs authorities.
Guangdong exports about US$100 million worth of shrimp annually
to the US.
The?US government started investigating Chinese shrimp
producers late last month, and a preliminary verdict is due on June
8.
"We must respond to the charge. If tariffs are imposed we will
lose the US market," said Guo Jiguo, vice general manager with
Zhoushan Xifeng Aquatic Co Ltd, in Zhejiang. "But we're confident
we will win because we are not dumping goods at any market."
Guo's company exported US$380,000 worth of shrimp from April to
September last year, about a third of which was shipped to the
US.
The company is considering the European market as a possible
alternative.
Chinese exporters are facing an increasing number of trade
barriers including anti-dumping investigations from other countries
following its entry into the World Trade Organization.
(Shanghai Daily February 28, 2004)