American Shrimp Processors Association Applauds Affirmative Preliminary Vote on New Trade Petitions, Supports New Senate Bill to Redistribute Tariff Revenue to Affected Communities

PORT ARTHUR, Texas, Dec. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Today the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) made an affirmative preliminary determination regarding the antidumping and countervailing duty petitions filed by the American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) on imports of shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The ITC, in a unanimous 4-0 vote, determined that there was a reasonable indication that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with injury by imports from the four countries. As a result of today's vote, the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations will proceed at both the ITC and the U.S.  Department of Commerce (Commerce).

ASPA President Trey Pearson welcomed the result: "Today's vote validates the data in ASPA's petitions demonstrating that imports from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam have taken market share from domestic producers, deeply undercut prices, and caused serious harm to domestic shrimp processors and shrimp harvesters alike. I am very proud of all of the ASPA members who put in the hard work to take the lead on these petitions, and I am humbled by the outpouring of support for our petitions from hundreds of shrimp fishermen throughout the Gulf. These unfair imports have thrown our entire industry into crisis, and I thank the ITC for allowing these important cases to continue."

ASPA's petitions generated overwhelming support throughout the domestic industry. In addition to support from its own members accounting for over 85 percent of domestic production, ASPA submitted support forms from more than 850 shrimp boats from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Together, the vessels included in ASPA's submissions landed the majority of shrimp harvested in 2022. Commerce is scheduled to make preliminary countervailing duty determinations for the four countries on March 25, 2024, and ASPA expects preliminary antidumping findings on imports from Ecuador and Indonesia will be issued in May of 2024. Final results in the investigations are not expected until the fall of 2024.

Today ASPA also announced its support for the Resilient Communities Act of 2023, introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on December 6, 2023. The Act would re-direct hundreds of millions of dollars of antidumping and countervailing duty tariff revenue to the communities that are directly harmed by unfair trade. "This bill could make a huge difference for the domestic shrimp industry, which has been fighting unfairly traded imports for almost twenty years. Tariffs help tame import prices and volumes, and the revenue they generate should also be re-invested in the domestic industries that have suffered lost sales, production, and jobs due to dumped and subsidized imports. We thank Senators Baldwin and Cassidy for introducing the Resilient Communities Act, and we look forward to working with them to secure its passage."

More information on the efforts of ASPA and its members can be accessed via www.americanshrimp.com. 

Media Contact: 
Edward T. Hayes
504-585-7500
ehayes@leakeandersson.com

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SOURCE American Shrimp Processors Association