Shrimp producers in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces have responded to a US anti-dumping charge threatening hefty tariffs on Chinese shrimp exporters.

Major shrimp producers in China, who export some US$800 million worth of shrimp each year, have hired lawyers to fight the case, said officials with Zhejiang Zhoushan Aquatic Export Association.

"If the verdict is against Chinese exporters, heavy tariffs will deal a great blow to China's shrimp industry," said Zhou Zhenhai, deputy secretary general of the aquatic export association.

The US Southern Shrimp Alliance filed a complaint late last year with the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission against farm-raised shrimp originating in China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Brazil and Ecuador.

The US alliance said in a statement that imports from the six countries had been sold in the US at unfairly low prices for years, causing domestic shrimp sales to drop to US$559 million in 2002 from US$1.25 billion in 2000.

Many of the 40 Chinese shrimp producers involved in the suit are based in China's eastern and southern coastal provinces like Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.

Shrimp exports are a major source of income for fishermen in those coastal areas.

For Zhejiang, home to a thriving seafood industry, shrimp exports totaled 498.7 tons in the first 11 months of last year, half of which were sent to the United States, according to local customs authorities.

Guangdong exports about US$100 million worth of shrimp annually to the US.

The US government started investigating Chinese shrimp producers late last month, and a preliminary verdict is due on June 8.

"We must respond to the charge. If tariffs are imposed we will lose the US market," said Guo Jiguo, vice general manager with Zhoushan Xifeng Aquatic Co Ltd, in Zhejiang. "But we're confident we will win because we are not dumping goods at any market."

Guo's company exported US$380,000 worth of shrimp from April to September last year, about a third of which was shipped to the US.

The company is considering the European market as a possible alternative.

Chinese exporters are facing an increasing number of trade barriers including anti-dumping investigations from other countries following its entry into the World Trade Organization.

(Shanghai Daily February 28, 2004)