India announced on Thursday, 25 May that it plans to petition the United States International Trade Commission for a waiver from the anti-dumping duties on the shrimp it exports to the U.S.A. The announcement comes a week after the agency confirmed it would continue to place tariffs on shrimp originating from four Asian countries, including India.
According to an article in India’s Business Standard, India is appealing to the U.S. ITC to have a full waiver granted within the next five years. India is currently the top exporter of shrimp to the United States, and its seafood exports to the U.S. were valued at USD 1.33 billion (EUR 1.19 billion) last year.
The U.S. anti-dumping duty was imposed on Indian frozen warm-water shrimp in 2004. On 1 May, the ITC determined that “revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time,” the ITC said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has pegged its preliminary anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp at an average rate of 1.07 percent, according to the Business Standard.
"The U.S. will review the duty every year and finalize a rate,” Tara Patnaik, chairman of Indian shrimp dealer Falcon Marine Exports Ltd, told the newspaper. “We will again [petition] USITC after five years for the sunset review.”
