美国虾养殖者要求对进口虾征收高额关税
U.S. Shrimp Producers File Suit Seeking Tariffs
Shrimp fishermen in eight Southern states filed petitions Wednesday seeking stiff tariffs on shrimp imports from Thailand, China, Vietnam, Ecuador and a handful of other nations that supply nearly 90% of the U.S. market.
The case, part of a recent string of high-profile actions seeking protections from cheaper imports, could substantially boost consumer prices and slash supply for America's most popular seafood if it succeeds. The U.S. last year imported 425,000 metric tons of shrimp, more than a quarter of it from Thailand.
Thousands of small shrimp operations ranging from South Carolina to Louisiana say they have been devastated by plunging prices over the past three years. In filings lodged with the Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission, they allege that as many as seven countries in Asia and Latin America were dumping shrimp on the U.S. market at prices less than "fair market value."
Threats of a shrimp-dumping case have provoked alarm and anger across Asia, where industry representatives have been scurrying for months to amass funds and hire Washington lawyers to fight back. In the U.S., companies gearing up to oppose the effort include Darden Restaurants Inc., which owns the Red Lobster chain, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
"If this is successful, it could dramatically increase prices and reduce supply," said Warren Connelly, a lawyer representing shrimp farmers in Ecuador as well as an array of U.S. seafood importers.
The plaintiffs, organized within a group called the Southern Shrimp Alliance, claim companies in Asia and Latin America have been dumping excess supplies of farmed shrimp on the U.S. market after heightened health standards and tariffs diverted them from Europe and Japan. The domestic industry, which trolls in the southern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, consists of thousands of small boats usually employing fewer than five people.
Overall shrimp imports are up 20% this year through October compared with the same period last year, driven largely by booming shipments from China and Vietnam. The average bulk price for imported shrimp, meanwhile, has fallen by about 31%. China is now the second-largest supplier by weight, but Vietnam is in second place when measured by value, having shipped $495 million of shrimp to the U.S. in the first 10 months of the year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Thailand has shipped $774 million of shrimp to the U.S. through October compared with $326 million from China, $342 million from India, $185 million from Ecuador, $148 million from Indonesia and $91 million from Brazil.
Trade experts say the shrimp case is a rare instance in which a U.S. producer has sought higher tariffs on a product widely consumed by Americans. The case is also unusual because if supplies are reduced, U.S. shrimp fishermen have limited ability to make up the difference.
"This case won't affect in the slightest the amount of shrimp that the domestic industry can sell," Mr. Connelly said. "Right now, U.S. fisherman are producing all the shrimp that they can."
U.S. industry officials insist supply won't be a problem. Even at a higher price, they say, shrimp will continue to come in from Asia, and other suppliers will boost production. At the same time, higher prices will allow more shrimp boats to troll off U.S. shores.
Nor would increased tariffs on shrimp necessarily translate into higher prices for consumers, according to Deborah Regan, a spokeswoman for the Southern Shrimp Alliance. "While we had a huge drop in dockside prices over the last three years, the price of restaurant shrimp has actually increased," she said.
Officials in Vietnam are particularly alarmed at the threat of a shrimp-dumping order, fearing it could undermine the country's brisk economic growth and harm efforts to reduce poverty. More than 700,000 Vietnamese farmers raise shrimp, among an estimated three million people involved in the country's shrimp industry, according to Nguyen Huu Dung, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.
Vietnam faces particular difficulties because the Commerce Department considers it, along with China, a nonmarket economy, making it an easier target for U.S. dumping cases. That was a key factor in the June 2002 decision to impose tariffs of as much as 64% on Vietnam's frozen catfish fillets in response to another antidumping petition.
Vietnam hopes to prove there has been no dumping because cheap labor costs and low land taxes in coastal areas leads to lower production costs than in the U.S.
美国虾养殖者要求对进口虾征收高额关税
美国南部8个州的虾养殖者准备于周三提交请愿书，要求对来自泰国、中国、越南、厄瓜多尔和其他一些国家的进口虾征收高额关税。美国市场上有近90%的虾来自这些国家。
如果请愿成功，消费价格将大幅增加，而且还会严重影响最受美国人喜欢的海鲜的供应。近期以来，美国采取了一系列引起轩然大波的保护措施，旨在保护国内产业免受境外廉价商品的冲击。美国去年一年进口了425,000吨虾，超过四分之一的进口虾来自泰国。
从南卡罗来纳州到路易斯安那州，数千个从事虾业务的小企业主抱怨说，过去3年中他们饱受虾价格暴跌之苦。在提交至美国商务部(Commerce Department)和美国国际贸易委员会(U.S. International Trade Commission)的文件中，他们指控亚洲和拉丁美洲的7个国家正以低于"公平的市场价格"向美国市场倾销虾。
这一虾倾销案的威胁引起了整个亚洲地区的警觉和不满。亚洲地区的行业代表几个月来一直在忙著筹集资金并聘请华盛顿律师进行回击。在美国境内，也不乏一些公司反对限制虾进口，如Darden Restaurants Inc.和沃尔玛连锁公司(Wal-Mart Stores Inc., WMT)等。
代表厄瓜多尔渔民和一系列美国海鲜进口商的律师沃伦?康奈利(Warren Connelly)认为，"如果倾销指控成立，它将造成国内物价飙升，并造成虾供给严重不足。"
今年1至10月，美国的虾进口比上年同期增长了20%。来自中国和越南的进口成为主要的增长动力。但与此同时，进口虾的平均价格却下降了约31%。以进口量而论，中国是美国第二大虾供应国。但如果以进口额而论，越南则是美国的第二大虾供应国。据美国统计调查局(U.S. Census Bureau)的数字显示，今年前10个月，美国共从越南进口了价值4.95亿美元的虾。
今年前10个月期间，泰国对美国的虾出口额为7.74亿美元，中国对美的虾出口额为3.26亿美元，印度对美的虾出口额为3.42亿美元，厄瓜多尔为1.85亿美元，印尼为1.48亿美元，巴西为9,100万美元。
贸易专家们称，此案的罕见之处在于美国的虾养殖者要求上调一种为美国人所广泛享用的产品的关税。另一个特殊之处在于，如果进口受到抑制，美国的虾养殖者填补供应缺口的能力却显然不足。
康奈利称，上调进口虾关税根本不会对本国虾养殖者的销量产生任何影响，因为美国虾养殖者的虾产量已经到达极限了
