Warm Shrimp Responds: Uphold Fair Trade

On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Commerce formally filed a countervailing investigation of frozen and warm water shrimp originating in Seven countries originating in China, Ecuador, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam initiated by the U.S. Gulf Shrimp Industry Alliance, which was the first countervailing investigation against Chinese agricultural products. According to US statistics, in 2012, the export amount of the products involved in our case to the United States was 102 million US dollars.

On February 7, 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission issued an announcement in which it made a preliminary judgment on countervailing industry damage to frozen warm water shrimp originating in China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, ruling that the subsidy behavior of the products involved in the case caused substantial damage to the DOMESTIC industry in the United States.

On May 29, 2013, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the preliminary results of the countervailing investigation against Frozen Warm Water Shrimp in China, and I forced the respondent company Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Development Co., Ltd. to countervailing the countervailing tax rate of 5.76%, and the countervailing duty rate of other Chinese enterprises was also 5.76%.

On August 13, 2013, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the final results of the countervailing investigation of warm shrimp products originating in seven countries, including China. The final ruling decided that the United States would impose a countervailing tax of 18.16% on China's relevant aquatic products companies.

On September 20, 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission announced the final results of the countervailing investigation of frozen warm shrimp from China and other countries, and found that the frozen warm water shrimp products exported to the United States by China and other countries did not cause substantial damage or substantial damage to the domestic industry in the United States. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Commerce will no longer issue a countervailing duty order on frozen warm shrimp products exported to the United States by China and other countries, and the case ends with "no damage".

Since the U.S. Department of Commerce finally decided on August 14, 2013, that the League of Aquatic Countervailing Duty rate was 18.16%, almost no one expected this result to achieve a "big reversal."

In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in the process of "joining the WTO", Chinese enterprises repeatedly encountered various trade barriers, and agricultural products, tires, photovoltaic products, especially "hard-hit areas", were repeatedly investigated. From the perspective of enterprises, Guolian Aquatic Products won the shrimp anti-dumping lawsuit initiated by the United States in 2004, and has an efficient and accurate response mechanism for dealing with international trade barriers. Under the circumstance that the results of the initial and final rulings of the US Department of Commerce were extremely unfavorable, Guolian Aquatic Products, with the support of government departments at the national and provincial levels, did not give up a glimmer of hope and conducted an objective, rigorous and convincing legal defense against the case. China's government departments at all levels have responded carefully and rigorously to the on-site verification by the US side. At the same time, the Chinese government has also negotiated with the US side, solemnly pointing out many unreasonable points in the US Department of Commerce's ruling and demanding a fair ruling. These efforts eventually combined to complete the "big reversal" of the final ruling of the US Department of Commerce. In this process, the experience accumulated in each link is of incalculable value to the Chinese government and enterprises in dealing with future international trade barriers. From the perspective of international trade, in the countervailing investigation of China's warm water shrimp exported to the United States, the US Department of Commerce disregarded the WTO rules and the common interests of the enterprises of the two countries, and there were many errors, omissions and biases in the process of field investigation, subsidy accounting and final ruling. These practices of the US Department of Commerce are tantamount to giving people a handle, exposing the politics and purpose behind its trade remedies, and becoming the capital for countries to deal with US trade lawsuits in the future. The US International Trade Commission has rarely rejected the final ruling of the US Department of Commerce, and also made the US Department of Commerce have to respect WTO trade rules and objective facts in future trade remedies. This is of positive significance for safeguarding the fairness and impartiality of international trade.