It looks like the U.S. has upheld its penalty tariffs on importing shrimp from Vietnam and China--to the relief of American shrimp producers and the detriment of consumers.

The U.S. Commerce Department is scheduled to make a final decision on shrimp imports from four other countries closer to home, including Brazil, Ecuador, India and Thailand, later this month.

Together those six countries provide about 75 percent of the shrimp that Americans eat. U.S. food distributors aren’t happy about the latest ruling; they contend that penalty tariffs will drive up shrimp prices at restaurants and grocery stores.

"Thousands of family-owned restaurants and businesses will now be forced to pay these duties," said Wally Stevens, chairman of the Shrimp Task Force. “The U.S. businesses that rely on access to imported shrimp…together employ thousands of U.S. workers, 20 times those employed in the domestic shrimp industry."

If the commission upholds its preliminary finding, the anti-dumping tariffs will become final and will remain in effect for five years before they are reviewed again under "sunset" provisions of the U.S. dumping law.

FS