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What is the Case About?
Facts About the Shrimp Dumping Case
Shrimp, once a delicacy only the rich could afford, is now America's #1 seafood thanks to imports. Thousands of grocers and restaurants depend on imported shrimp to meet consumer demand. This trade case threatens to deny American consumers the benefits of reasonably priced, widely available shrimp.
Because of this threat to both consumers and to the consuming industries
that serve them, the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition
(CITAC) is taking action. CITAC has formed an alliance with the American
Seafood Distributors Association (ASDA), bringing together concerned
grocers, restaurants, processors, distributors, business councils and other
consuming groups to form the CITAC/ASDA Shrimp Task Force. The goal of the
Shrimp Task Force will be to assure that the U.S. government considers all the
facts in the case fairly and objectively, with a full understanding
of the ramifications of any decision.
Over the past few months, The Shrimp Task Force has watched the domestic
shrimping industry launch a substantial public relations and lobbying campaign
designed to highlight its difficult economic situation, place the blame for
its problems on imports, and define the restriction of imports through dumping
duties as its only salvation. The CITAC/ASDA Shrimp Task Force will raise
awareness of the shrimp case so that policymakers, the news media, and opinion
leaders understand the facts of the case, including:
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Approximately 90% of total U.S. shrimp consumption
must be served by imports. This case is nothing more than an attempt
by a small group of domestic processors and shrimpers to convince
the U.S. government to place a food tax on consumers. In return,
the petitioners reap a hefty financial windfall because of the Byrd
Amendment, a controversial law directing revenues from dumping duties
to the petitioners and others who support the case. If dumping duties
were set at 15% and shrimp imports cut in half (conservative estimates),
this select group of shrimpers and processors would receive an estimated
total $180 million, or $829,493 per company, every year in payouts
of antidumping special interest taxes on food imports.
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If successful, this case will cause massive disruption
for American consumers because U.S. shrimpers cannot meet the huge
demands of the American market for shrimp. If the petitioners win,
up to three quarters of the shrimp now available
through imports will be removed from the market – out of restaurants
and out of grocery stores. U.S. shrimpers simply cannot catch more
shrimp than currently supplied to the market because they catch shrimp
on open waters using boats and nets. Open water "shrimping" is
less efficient, less predictable, and far more expensive than aquaculture,
used by countries that export shrimp.
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The case will do nothing to “save American jobs” but
will cause economic damage and adversely impact thousands of Americans
employed in industries that depend on foreign shrimp. For every one
job in the US shrimp-producing industry, there are 20 other US shrimp-consuming
jobs involved in processing or distribution. Higher prices for shrimp
will cause some of these jobs to disappear, and the take-home pay
of others to suffer.
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Imports have made shrimp widely available
to American consumers because other countries have adopted modern
technology that has increased supply at lower prices, while the
American shrimping industry has failed to adapt. The case punishes
foreign shrimp farmers and workers for their inventiveness and
efficiency, and rewards the domestic industry for its failure to
respond to competition.
CITAC will vigorously work to ensure that shrimp
continues to be widely available at a reasonable price for American
consumers, and that Americans employed in shrimp-consuming sectors,
who number more than 250,000, are not harmed by this petition.
For additional information, please contact The PBN Company at 202-466-6210
or CITAC at 202-347-1085.
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