Shrimp association applauds release of antidumping funds

BILOXI — The American Shrimp Processors Association is welcoming the release of withheld duty funds to the domestic shrimp industry.

According to the ASPA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be distributing tariffs collected on unfairly traded imports that had been withheld from domestic producers for more than four years pending the resolution of litigation challenging the law(Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, or CDSOA) that authorized the distributions.

Domestic shrimp producers who supported the imposition of antidumping orders on shrimp from six countries in 2005 will be among the beneficiaries of Customs’ decision as more than $14 million in CDSOA distributions have been withheld from the industry since 2006. Though the actual data are not public, the ASPA said it believes a substantial portion of this amount had been withheld due to pending litigation that has now been resolved.

“This is a significant victory for our association, its members and the entire American shrimp industry,” said David Veal, executive director of the CDSOA. “Since the court rejected the basis for these unfounded legal challenges to CDSOA in 2010, we have been working with our friends in Congress to urge Customs to release these funds.”

Source: American Shrimp Processors Association