As a result of the commission’s vote, duties ranging from 2.84 to 221.82 percent will be imposed on imports of shrimp from four countries.
BEAUMONT, Texas — Southeast Texas fishermen are celebrating a win after the U.S. International Trade Commission voted in favor of antidumping and countervailing duties on shrimp imports from four countries.
On Wednesday morning, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted in favor of antidumping and countervailing duty petitions filed by the American Shrimp Processors Association against imports of frozen warm-water shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
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As a result of the commission’s vote, duties ranging from 2.% to 212% will be imposed on imports of shrimp from the four countries, according to Tricia Kimball, the Port Arthur Area Shrimpers Association Vice President.
“It’s obvious on our end but we have to get them to see that as well and fortunately they did. But what will happen from here we’re waiting to see,” Kimball said.
Southeast Texas shrimpers say there aren’t any guidelines right now on how each of the countries could be taxed.
“If it’s more of the 212% then yes that will help us considerably. But if it’s just a few percentage points that’s not going to make much of a difference,” said Kimball.
She says the industry is sinking.
“We’ve lost 80% of our vessels because their owners can no longer afford to shrimp. You’re losing so much money because the price of shrimp has gone down. You got the price of fuel that has gone up,” Kimball said.
Kimball says the vote would stop these countries from dumping shrimp into the U.S. and selling it at unfairly low prices.
Southeast Texas shrimpers have spent the past few years fighting back hoping to turn the tide.
“Every five years there a sunset review that’s taken place and that’s what happened. It started in September 2023 we filled out the questionnaire, 800 fisherman, and submitted them to bolster our thoughts that they were injuring the U.S. shrimping industry,” said Kimball.
More than 800 shrimp boats expressed their support for ASPA’s petitions at the U.S. Department of Commerce last fall, according to ASPA. Dozens of processors and an unprecedented number of shrimp harvesters took the time to fill out questionnaires for the commission’s injury investigation.
Kimball’s husband Kyle Kimball, president of of the association, has been in the business for more than 55 years. He says in 2020 shrimp sellers were hit with low ball prices.
“In the 80s you can get anywhere from $3.50-$4.50 a pound and it went down to 80 cents to $1.50. Sometimes it’s bad enough that they don’t even want to buy them,” he said.
The Kimballs say the quality of the shrimp coming into the U.S. is also a big issue.
“This import is really not checked like it needs to be and is really hazardous to the health,” Kyle Kimball said.
“It’s contaminated with filth. Do you really want to eat filth?” said Tricia.
The Kimballs says they won’t know exactly how much each country will be taxed until the official report comes out on January 6, 2025.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if or when we receive more confirmed information.
