The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to impose duties on frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia after determining the U.S. industry is being negatively impacted by imports of the products.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) started its investigation on whether to impose antidumping or countervailing duties against shrimp from the four countries in November 2023 after the America Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) filed trade petitions the month before. In March 2024 the DOC issued its preliminary determinations for countervailing duties, which had Ecuador facing a 7.55 percent duty and Ecuador-based Santa Priscilla facing a 13.41 percent countervailing duty; Devi Sea Foods in India facing a 4.72 percent countervailing duty, and most shrimp exporters in Vietnam facing a 2.84 percent countervailing duty.
The DOC then later levied antidumping duties against Ecuador and companies in Indonesia, with a preliminary determination that Ecuador would face a 10.58 percent dumping margin and Indonesia would face a 6.3 percent dumping margin. It did not add any additional antidumping duties to Vietnam or India, but both countries have been subject to investigations and antidumping duties since 2005.
Both the countervailing and antidumping duties would eventually be revised by the DOC, and issued final determinations in October 2024 that would see all four countries pay either an antidumping or countervailing duty which on the low end hit Vietnam with a 2.84 percent countervailing duty and on the high end hit Thong Thuan Company Limited with a 221.82 percent dumping duty rate which DOC said was “based on adverse inferences.”
Those duties then went before the ITC, which ultimately voted to impose duties on shrimp from the four countries.
“As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determinations, Commerce will issue countervailing duty orders on imports of this product from Ecuador, India, and Vietnam and an antidumping duty order on imports of this product from Indonesia,” the ITC said.
ASPA celebrated the outcome as a win for U.S. shrimp producers.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of today’s vote,” ASPA President Trey Pearson said. “Today’s vote validates what we have known all along – that dumped and subsidized imports are the reason our industry has been thrown into crisis. I could not be prouder that ASPA took the lead to file and win these cases on behalf of the entire domestic shrimp industry.”
ASPA said more than 800 shrimp boats supported its petitions to the DOC in October, and dozens of processors and shrimp harvesters helped fill out questionnaires to aid the ITC’s investigation.
“This has been a hard-fought battle against billions of dollars of imports, and I want to thank ASPA’s members and all of the shrimpers that supported our efforts,” Pearson said. “I am deeply grateful to all of the small, family-owned American businesses that joined together in this fight. Today’s result shows what can be achieved when we work together, and it gives me great hope for our industry’s future.”
DOC’s final determinations hit Ecuador with a 3.78 percent countervailing duty for the shrimp industry overall, and targeted Santa Priscila with a 3.57 percent duty and Sociedad Nacional de Galapagos with a 4.41 percent duty. It did not levy any antidumping duties against the country.
India’s shrimp industry was hit with a 5.77 percent countervailing duty, while Devi Sea Foods will be hit with a 5.87 percent duty rate and Sandhya Aqua Exports will be hit with a 5.63 percent rate. It was not hit with an additional antidumping duty.
Vietnam was hit with a 2.84 percent countervailing duty, as was SocTrang Seafood. Thong Thuan Company Limited was hit with a whopping 221.82 countervailing duty, the highest levied by the DOC in its investigation. It was not hit with additional antidumping duties.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s exports to the U.S. in October reached USD 80 million (EUR 76 million), up 17 percent year over year. VASEP said it expects import demand from the U.S. to increase in the short-term due to supply concerns and as companies anticipate further tariffs from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in 2025.
Indonesia was hit with no countervailing duties. However, it was hit with a 3.9 percent antidumping duty, as the DOC investigation determined that PT First Marine Seafoods/PT Khom Foods engaged in dumping of shrimp.
