Shrimp Showdown
China, Thailand and Brazil have backed India in its fight with the US over anti-dumping duties on exports.
By Amiti Sen, TNN |
NEW DELHI: China, Thailand and Brazil have backed India in its fight with the US over anti-dumping duties on shrimp exports. The three countries –– also at the receiving end of the US anti-dumping action on shrimps –– have expressed their desire to join the consultations requested by India at the dispute settlement body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
India raised a dispute against the US at the WTO earlier this month for imposing a 9.5% anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimps. India had also objected to the amended bond requirements imposed on shrimp exporters which was increasing costs and acting as a prohibitive non-tariff barrier for Indian shrimps.
China, Thailand and Brazil, in their separate requests filed to the DSB, have stated that they wanted to attend the consultations requested by India since the US actions were affecting their shrimp exports. As per calculations made by the Marine Products Export Development Authority, both the actions have resulted in a dip in the country’s shrimp exports to the US from an all-time high of $394m in ‘03 to $293m in ‘05.
India claims its export of shrimps to the US was regular and no dumping was taking place. It accused the US of using the faulty ‘zeroing’ technique for calculating the dumping margins, which has been junked by the WTO. Under ‘zeroing’, the negative dumping margins are ignored and considered as zero while calculating average dumping margins.
India has further said that the provision of asking exporters to furnish bonds based on the previous year’s exports was also against WTO rules. It resulted in doubling of the burden.
The US department of commerce imposed anti-dumping duties on shrimps from six countries including India, China, Brazil and Thailand in January ‘05. It refused to revoke duties even after Thailand and India requested the US to do so after the tsunami ravaged coastal regions of both countries.
India raised a dispute against the US at the WTO earlier this month for imposing a 9.5% anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimps. India had also objected to the amended bond requirements imposed on shrimp exporters which was increasing costs and acting as a prohibitive non-tariff barrier for Indian shrimps.
China, Thailand and Brazil, in their separate requests filed to the DSB, have stated that they wanted to attend the consultations requested by India since the US actions were affecting their shrimp exports. As per calculations made by the Marine Products Export Development Authority, both the actions have resulted in a dip in the country’s shrimp exports to the US from an all-time high of $394m in ‘03 to $293m in ‘05.
India claims its export of shrimps to the US was regular and no dumping was taking place. It accused the US of using the faulty ‘zeroing’ technique for calculating the dumping margins, which has been junked by the WTO. Under ‘zeroing’, the negative dumping margins are ignored and considered as zero while calculating average dumping margins.
India has further said that the provision of asking exporters to furnish bonds based on the previous year’s exports was also against WTO rules. It resulted in doubling of the burden.
The US department of commerce imposed anti-dumping duties on shrimps from six countries including India, China, Brazil and Thailand in January ‘05. It refused to revoke duties even after Thailand and India requested the US to do so after the tsunami ravaged coastal regions of both countries.
Too busy to trade in stocks? Invest in Mutual Funds with ET Money!
Bookmark or read stories offline -
Download ET Markets APP
Download ET Markets APP
ADVERTISEMENT
