Every year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is required by law to provide a report to Congress regarding enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duty orders over the prior fiscal year (FY). CBP’s report for FY2016 was presented to Congress on November 17, 2017, but was made available to the public for the first time this week.
The United States operates a “retrospective” system of assessing antidumping and countervailing duties. This means that in response to unfair trade that has materially injured a domestic industry, the U.S. government requires importers to deposit with CBP estimated antidumping and/or countervailing duties at the time imports are entered into the country for consumption. Following importation, foreign exporters, U.S. importers, and U.S. domestic producers have the option of asking the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) to review an exporter’s sales over a prior period of time to determine a final liquidation (assessment) antidumping and/or countervailing duty rate. If the final liquidation rate is less than the estimated amount that had been deposited with the imports, CBP issues refunds to the importer. If the final liquidation rate is higher than the estimated amount deposited, CBP issues a bill to the importer to collect the additional amounts owed.
CBP’s report to Congress indicates that the agency collected $49.1 million in antidumping duty cash deposits on imported shrimp in FY2016. Based on the data in previous CBP reports to Congress, the agency has collected over $200 million in antidumping duty cash deposits on shrimp imports over the five year period between FY2012 and FY2016, as shown in the table below.
When coupled with import volume and value data, CBP’s data demonstrate that the antidumping duty orders on shrimp have been effective. U.S. importers have been required to deposit tens of millions of dollars in estimated antidumping duties each year in order to counteract unfair trade practices. Final liquidation rates established after Commerce’s review process result in the assessment of duties that are, in fact, collected by the U.S. government.
These conditions are unusual for food products subject to antidumping duties. In addition to experiencing substantial uncollected antidumping duties on past imports, the amount of antidumping and/or countervailing duties deposited at the time of importation of food products is limited. The total amounts deposited in FY2016 on a product basis are summarized in the table below.
The antidumping duties ultimately collected by CBP on shrimp imports that entered the country after October 1, 2007 go to the U.S. Treasury and are part of the general revenue of the U.S. government. As an industry, U.S. commercial shrimpers compete in international markets without the benefit of subsidies from their government. In stark contrast, shrimp producers and exporters in many other countries enjoy the support of their governments when targeting export markets, such as the United States, for sales.
Review U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Enforcement Actions and Compliance Initiatives: FY 2016 (FY2017 Report to Congress)here: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CBP%20-%20ADCVD%20Enforcement%20Actions%20and%20Compliance%20Initiatives%20%20FY%202016_1.pdf
About the Southern Shrimp Alliance
The Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) is an organization of shrimp fishermen, shrimp processors, and other members of the domestic industry in the eight warmwater shrimp producing states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
Source: Southern Shrimp Alliance