Two new U.S. antidumping (“AD”) petitions were filed on Oct. 25 by the American Shrimp Processors Association (“ASPA” or “Petitioner”) against imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador and Indonesia. Petitioner also filed four countervailing duty (“CVD”) petitions against imports of frozen warmwater shrimp from Ecuador, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The merchandise covered by these petitions is frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae family. The merchandise covered by the scope includes warmwater shrimp, whether wild-caught or farm-raised. Frozen warmwater shrimp that are packed with marinades, spices, or sauces are included in the scope, however, shrimp and prawns in prepared meals are excluded from the scope. Also excluded from the scope are breaded shrimp, coldwater shrimp, fresh shrimp, dried shrimp, and canned warmwater shrimp. Please see below for the full text of the proposed scope of the investigations.

The Department of Commerce (“DOC”) and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) will conduct the investigations. Within the next 45 days, the ITC will determine if there is a reasonable indication that the imports are injuring or threatening to injure the U.S. industry. If the ITC finds that this standard is met, the cases will move to the DOC, which will calculate the preliminary AD and CVD duty margins.

The DOC’s preliminary determinations are currently expected by Jan. 18, 2024, (CVD) and April 2, 2024 (AD). On the date of publication of DOC’s preliminary determinations, importers will be required to deposit the calculated duties upon the products’ entry into the U.S. market. Interested parties should be aware of the potential lapse in U.S. government funding, which is currently set to expire at midnight on Nov. 17, 2023. A lapse in appropriations would cause certain government activities to cease and may impact the deadlines in these investigations.

Importers should also be aware that entries may be subject to AD/CVD cash deposits up to 90 days before the DOC preliminary determinations if the DOC and ITC both issue a finding of “critical circumstances.” For the DOC, this means that imports increased by at least 15 percent following the filing of the petitions compared to a similar period (typically three months) before the petitions were filed. For the ITC, a final finding of critical circumstances is rare.

There are strict statutory deadlines associated with these proceedings and affected companies are advised to prepare as soon as possible. If this product is of interest to you, please let us know so that we can provide you with additional information as it becomes available. A schedule of approximate key dates is attached below.

The following are key facts about this trade case:

Petitioner: ASPA

Foreign Producers/Exporters and U.S. Importers: Please contact us for a listing of individual importers and exporters named in the petitions.

AD/CVD margins: Petitioner alleged the following estimated margins:

• Ecuador: dumping margins from 1.3% to 111.4%, ad valorem, and countervailing duty margins above de minimis;

• India: countervailing duty margins above de minimis;

• Indonesia: dumping margins from 4.85% to 37.36%, ad valorem, and countervailing duty margins above de minimis; and

• Vietnam: countervailing duty margins above de minimis

Merchandise covered by the scope of the case:

The proposed scope of these investigations describes the imported merchandise as:

• The scope of these investigations includes certain frozen warmwater shrimp and prawns whether wild-caught (ocean harvested) or farm-raised (produced by aquaculture), head-on or head-off, shell-on or peeled, tail-on or tail-off, deveined or not deveined, cooked or raw, or otherwise processed in frozen form.
• The frozen warmwater shrimp and prawn products included in the scope, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), are products which are processed from warmwater shrimp and prawns through freezing and which are sold in any count size.

The products described above may be processed from any species of warmwater shrimp and prawns. Warmwater shrimp and prawns are generally classified in, but are not limited to, the Penaeidae family. Some examples of the farmed and wild-caught warmwater species include, but are not limited to, whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannemei), banana prawn (Penaeus merguiensis), fleshy prawn (Penaeus chinensis), giant river prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii), giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), red spotted shrimp (Penaeus brasiliensis), southern brown shrimp (Penaeus subtilis), southern pink shrimp (Penaeus notialis), southern rough shrimp (Trachypenaeus curvirostris), southern white shrimp (Penaeus schmitti), blue shrimp (Penaeus stylirostris), western white shrimp (Penaeus occidentalis), and Indian white prawn (Penaeus indicus).

• Frozen shrimp and prawns that are packed with marinade, spices or sauce are included in the scope. In addition, food preparations, which are not “prepared meals,” that contain more than 20 percent by weight of shrimp or prawn are also included in the scope.

• Excluded from the scope are: (1) breaded shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.10.20); (2) shrimp and prawns generally classified in the Pandalidae family and commonly referred to as coldwater shrimp, in any state of processing; (3) fresh shrimp and prawns whether shell-on or peeled (HTSUS subheadings 0306.36.0020 and 0306.36.0040); (4) shrimp and prawns in prepared meals (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.05.10); (5) dried shrimp and prawns; (6) canned warmwater shrimp and prawns (HTSUS subheading 1605.20.10.40); (7) certain dusted shrimp; and (8) certain battered shrimp. Dusted shrimp is a shrimp-based product: (1) that is produced from fresh (or thawed-from-frozen) and peeled shrimp; (2) to which a “dusting” layer of rice or wheat flour of at least 95 percent purity has been applied; (3) with the entire surface of the shrimp flesh thoroughly and evenly coated with the flour; (4) with the non-shrimp content of the end product constituting between four and 10 percent of the product’s total weight after being dusted, but prior to being frozen; and (5) that is subjected to IQF freezing immediately after application of the dusting layer. Battered shrimp is a shrimp-based product that, when dusted in accordance with the definition of dusting above, is coated with a wet viscous layer containing egg and/or milk, and par-fried.

• The products covered by the scope are currently classified under the following HTSUS subheadings: 0306.17.0004, 0306.17.0005, 0306.17.0007, 0306.17.0008, 0306.17.0010, 0306.17.0011, 0306.17.0013, 0306.17.0014, 0306.17.0016, 0306.17.0017, 0306.17.0019, 0306.17.0020, 0306.17.0022, 0306.17.0023, 0306.17.0025, 0306.17.0026, 0306.17.0028, 0306.17.0029, 0306.17.0041, 0306.17.0042, 1605.21.1030, and 1605.29.1010. These HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and for customs purposes only and are not dispositive, but rather the written description of the scope is dispositive.

Source: Clark Hill