The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has upheld antidumping tariffs on frozen warmwater shrimp exports from two Indian companies and slightly increased the rate for all others after finalizing an administrative review.
The U.S. imposes antidumping rates on foreign shrimp imports believed to be priced below fair market value in an attempt to bolster domestic production.
The DOC’s 17th administrative review, the preliminary results of which were announced in March, investigated frozen shrimp sales into the U.S. by 187 Indian exporters between 1 February, 2021, and 31 January, 2022. The two mandatory respondents – Megaa Moda Pvt. Ltd. (Megaa Moda) and NK Marine Exports LLP (NK Marine) – received preliminary levies of 7.92 percent and 1.43 percent duties, respectively. The DOC placed dumping margins for India’s remaining 185 Indian shrimp exporters at 3.76 percent, based on the rates imposed on the two mandatory respondents.
In its final ruling, issued 28 August, the DOC maintained its duty levels against Megaa Moda and NK Marine at the same rates set in the preliminary judgment but raised duties for the other 185 Indian exporters to 3.88 percent. The imports of shrimp from the 187 investigated Indian shrimp exporters encompassed in the 17th administrative review are now subject to cash deposit requirements for antidumping duties in accordance with the rates determined by the DOC in its final results.
“The 3.88 percent antidumping duty rate applied to all other exporters subject to the 17th administrative review represents the fourth-highest ‘all others’ rate assigned by the [DOC] in the history of [the DOC’s] administrative reviews of the Indian shrimp antidumping duty order,” the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a trade group supporting the U.S. shrimp sector, said in a statement.
India has been the top U.S. shrimp supplier for the past decade. In 2022, Indian exports accounted for nearly 40 percent of the total volume of frozen, non-breaded warmwater shrimp brought into the U.S., with shipments valued at USD 2.8 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).
However, low global demand and rising feed and production costs have pushed down India’s U.S. exports.
“Combined with increased production costs, it’s clear that in India, too, farmers and vertically integrated producers have been losing money,” Shrimp Insights Founder Willem van der Pjil wrote in a recent blog post.
India shipped 47 million pounds, or 21,767 metric tons (MT), of shrimp to the U.S. in May 2023, down from 52 million pounds (24,787 MT) in May 2022. In June 2023, it sent 51 million pounds (23,274 MT) of shrimp to the U.S., down from 69 million pounds (31,547 MT) in June 2022. Its year-to-date total from the end of June was down nearly 23,000 MT from 2022, according to NOAA data.
Indian shrimp exports globally were worth USD 1.8 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) between January and May of 2023, down 13 percent year over year, with particularly significant drops in April (down 23 percent) and May (22 percent lower).
The monthly average export prices of vannamei from India in the first four months of 2023 dropped between USD 0.90 and USD 1.30 (EUR 0.80 and EUR 1.20) per kilogram compared to prices in the same months last year.
India’s exports of raw vannamei – its primary shrimp export – experienced a gentle decline compared to its value-added exports, with the volume beginning to decrease from April on. While India’s total export volume of vannamei rose 4 percent to 201,242 MT from January to May, its exports to the U.S. dropped 8 percent, which is “a signal of declining demand from U.S. retail,” van der Pjil said.
“I don’t doubt that India’s shrimp exports will decline further over the next few months. But, whether the drop is as deep as some are expecting remains uncertain,” van der Pjil said. “How big the crisis becomes will depend in part on whether Ecuador’s production will stabilize or continue to grow further to compete for the market share of Indian producers in the U.S.”
Indian shrimp imports that made their way into the U.S. between 1 February, 2022, and 31 January, 2023, are currently under DOC review under its 18th administrative review of the Indian shrimp antidumping duty order.
Photo courtesy of NK Marine Exports
