Shrimp Prices Going Up

The Commerce Department issued a preliminary ruling to impose import duties on shrimp from Brazil, Ecuador, India, and Thailand because they sell their products in the United States at unfairly low rates.

The preliminary decision quickly puts up duties, though a final Commerce Department decision is not expected until December, followed by an ITC ruling that could lock in trade barriers for at least five years and funnel the tariff revenue to the companies that brought the complaint.

Exporters in the four nations will face tariffs ranging to 67.8 percent and the tariffs follow duties previously imposed on shrimp exported from China and Vietnam.

The ruling is expected to help preserve U.S. shrimp businesses, protecting some 70,000 jobs in the United States. Opponents, such as Wally Stevens, president of Slade Gorton Co., claim:

"This is a case of the current administration imposing a new food tax on millions of Americans."

Those that have a particular fondness for shrimp can anticipate a bigger bite out of their food budget.