U.S. soybean shippers back shrimpers against antidumping petition

U.S. soybean shippers back shrimpers against antidumping petition    The American Soybean Association said it will support U.S. shrimp importers in their fight against an antidumping petition filed by a group of domestic shrimpers and processors.
   About 90 percent of U.S. shrimp consumption today is met through imports. In addition, a majority of the shrimp producing countries buy large quantities of U.S. soybeans and soybean meal to feed their farm-raised shrimp.
   Ron Heck, president of the American Soybean Association, said his group is primarily concerned about the potential of retaliatory trade restrictions placed on U.S. soybean exports. “About half of all our U.S. soy exports are purchased by shrimp producing countries,” he said in a statement.
   A group of domestic shrimp producers filed a $2.4-billion dumping petition to the U.S. government Dec. 31. The petition targeted imports from Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Ecuador, and Brazil. These countries account for about 75 percent of all U.S. shrimp imports. According to the American Soybean Association, these countries, except for Brazil, buy more than $3.3 billion worth of U.S. soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil annually.
   The Shrimp Task Force said if dumping duties were set at the prescribed 15 percent and shrimp imports were cut in half, the petitioning domestic shrimpers and processors would receive about $180 million, or $829,493 per company, each year in payouts of antidumping taxes.
   “This case will do nothing to save American jobs, but it could cause tremendous economic damage and adversely impact thousands of Americans employed in the farm sector who depend heavily on agricultural commodity exports to shrimp producing countries,” Heck warned.