The United States has appealed a Feb. 29 World Trade Organization ruling that its practice of collecting cash deposits in the form of bonds from Indian and Thai shrimp exporters subject to antidumping tariffs violates international trade law.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection enacted the practice in 2004 to curb tariff evasion. India and Thailand are two of the six Asian and Latin American countries the U.S. Department of Commerce slapped with shrimp tariffs in 2005 after the Southern Shrimp Alliance, an eight-state group of shrimpers and processors, filed an antidumping petition in 2003.
The United States is asking the WTO's Appellate Body to review the panel's decision that its bond directive is "unreasonable."
India and Thailand has also appealed the WTO ruling, arguing that any antidumping penalty other than a tariff is illegal in an effort to prevent the United States from implementing a penalty similar to its bond directive.
The Appellate Body usually rules within 90 to 120 days of an appeal.
