There is news of an investigation being conducted by the United States Department of Commerce into the alleged practice disposal and subsidies to four countries that export shrimp to the United States, including Ecuador. According to what the entity communicated a few weeks ago, the results of the preliminary investigation for the case of subsidies were supposed to be known by January 18, while the results of the dumping investigation were supposed to be known on April 3.

This Wednesday, January 24, after consulting with this newspaper, the US Department of Commerce reported that “the preliminary countervailing duty (subsidy) investigation has been expanded and is now scheduled for March 26, 2024.”

The shrimp industry asserts that the U.S. industry claims, based on limited information, that ‘dumping’ has occurred and that subsidies have been secured

In addition, the entity noted that the results of the “preliminary anti-dumping investigation are planned to be released on April 3, 2024, but that date may be extended.” It was originally indicated that these preliminary conclusions would be completed on April 2nd.

He disposal It is a form of unfair competition and consists of selling products at a price that does not accurately reflect their cost. It is considered to exist disposal when the FOB export value – the value corresponding to the market price of goods at the border of the exporting country – is lower than the normal value of the same product on the domestic market of the country of origin.

The investigation by the United States Department of Commerce stemmed from a report by the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) released prior to January 16, which found that “there are reasonable indications” that the US industry is suffering material injury due to imports of frozen hot water shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia. “Frozen warmwater shrimp are allegedly sold in the United States at below-fair prices and subsidized by the governments of Ecuador and Indonesia, and imports from India and Vietnam are allegedly subsidized by the governments of India and Vietnam,” the report concluded.

The 200+ page document states that in 131 out of 159 price comparisons (£100.2m), underpricing margins ranged from 0.7% to 46.8%. In the remaining 28 cases (£13.2 million), product prices from the countries surveyed were between 0.2% and 44.1% above domestic product prices.

These results indicate that the prices of shrimp in the mentioned countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Ecuador, in the examined period, from January 2020 to June 2023, were below the prices of the product produced in the United States, that is, at a price below fair value and also subsidized by their governments.

This is not the first time the nation’s shrimp sector has been investigated for these alleged irregularities. In 2004, there wasdisposal and in 2013 another countervailing duty (subsidy), both promoted by US producers and in both cases Ecuador won.

American shrimp farmers and Ecuadorian companies have made their case for subsidy and dumping complaints that the Commerce Department must address. This is a preliminary investigation

José Antonio Camposano, president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), the union defending the sector against the current accusations, expressed his regret at this new attempt by the US shrimp industry: “The US shrimp industry insists again with the intention of seeking a different result on this occasion, because US law it does not prohibit it,” lamented the leader.

He added that partial information contained in petitions filed by United States shrimp producers is inaccurate and incomplete.