Clear Lake Shores, Kemah, Lazy Bend, League City, a Part of Unincorporated Galveston County and the Marinas
relief from unfair imports
The U.S. shrimp industry is asking the government to take swift action against
imports of dumped shrimp from Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Ecuador and
Brazil that are hurting the domestic industry.
On Wednesday, the Shrimp Trade Action Committee, an ad hoc committee of
boat owners and shrimp processors, petitioned the U.S. Department of
Commerce and the International Trade Commission to restore fair trade
conditions in shrimp by imposing antidumping duties on shrimp imported
from the six countries. The Mexican shrimp industry also supports the
trade action.
Increasing volumes of foreign shrimp are flooding the U.S. market at lower and
lower prices because of overproduction in the aforementioned countries as well
as import tariffs, controls and occasional shrimp import bans by the European
Union.
"The U.S. shrimp industry is in dire straits," said Eddie Gordon, president of
the Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents harvesters, processors and
distributors of American wild caught shrimp in eight southern coastal states.
"Competitive and efficient companies are closing, unemployment is rising and
boats are being repossessed. The key reason is the high and increasing level
of dumped shrimp imports entering the U.S. market. If the unfair practice of
dumping continues, many more family businesses will fail, thousands more
employees will be out of work and many coastal communities will be devastated."
In 2000, the value of the U.S. shrimp harvest was $1.25 billion. But imported
shrimp from the targeted countries have dropped the value of the U.S. shrimp
harvest in 2002 more than 50 percent to $560 million. The average dockside price for Gulf shrimp dropped from $6.08 to $3.30 per pound over the same period. Meanwhile, frozen wholesale prices for domestic shrimp received by domestic processors fell from $6.45 to $4.77 per pound. Employment by U.S. shrimp processors dropped more than 40 percent during the same period.
Despite wholesale shrimp values dropping to their lowest levels in four decades,
the Wall Street Journal reported the average price for a shrimp entree at major
restaurant chains has actually increased as much as 28 percent. ____________________________________________________________
(Kemah, is part of 14th district)
Urges Commerce Department to
Investigate Foreign Shrimp Subsidies
01/21/04
Washington, DC Congressman Ron Paul recently joined several of his
House colleagues urging action by the Commerce Department to protect
the troubled domestic shrimp industry. Paul and other members of
Congress, who represent thousands of shrimpers in Texas and
Louisiana, sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Zoellick demanding an investigation into
taxpayer subsidies that benefit foreign shrimpers at the expense of
our domestic industry.
The 14th congressional district is home to many shrimpers, from
Galveston to Aransas counties. Since 2000, shrimp imports from
targeted countries have increased a whopping 72%, while prices have
fallen 35% in the same period. This flood of subsidized imported
shrimp has drastically reduced revenues for the vital Gulf coast
shrimp industry.
"Domestic shrimpers up and down the Texas Gulf coast have been
devastated by cheap imported shrimp," Paul stated. "Congress needs
to remove the burdensome regulations that make it so difficult for
our shrimpers to make a profit, but we also need to eliminate
foreign aid subsidies to the nations that compete directly with our
shrimp industry. It's unconscionable that a struggling shrimper in
south Texas has to pay taxes that subsidize his foreign
competitors."
Paul introduced the "Shrimp Importation Fairness Act" in January
2003 to help level the playing field between the foreign and
domestic shrimp industries. The bill places a moratorium on costly
federal regulations that hamper the domestic industry, while ending
taxpayer subsidies to seven countries responsible for nearly 70% of
the imported shrimp consumed in the U.S.
PAUL INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO
HELP COMMERCIAL SHRIMPERS
10/09/2002
Washington, DC: Congressman Ron Paul today introduced legislation designed to aid the struggling domestic shrimping industry. HR 5578, the Shrimp Importation Financing Fairness Act, places a moratorium on restrictive regulations burdening the shrimping industry. The bill also puts an end to taxpayer-funded subsidies that benefit foreign shrimpers at the expense of domestic jobs.
"Current federal policies place American shrimpers at a competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace," Paul stated. "First, our shrimpers face far too many burdensome regulations- regulations that don’t affect foreign competitors. Second, we subsidize foreign shrimpers with American tax dollars, through foreign aid payments and trade financing schemes like the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the International Monetary Fund. This misguided approach has had a devastating effect on commercial shrimpers in the Texas gulf coast and beyond."
Paul’s bill suspends new federal regulations on domestic shrimpers, who already comply with onerous environmental restrictions and endangered species rules. 70% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. is imported from nations that do not operate under the same rules as American shrimpers. China, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and Brazil exported more than 20 million pounds of shrimp to America during the first months of 2002. Paul’s legislation would eliminate all foreign aid to these seven nations until they dramatically reduce the amount of shrimp exported to America.
"The shrimping
industry is a vital social and economic force in coastal communities
across America," Paul concluded. "Our shrimpers need immediate
regulatory relief, combined with the elimination of subsidies for
foreign competitors. It is time for Congress to rein in
regulation-happy bureaucrats before price depression destroys the
domestic shrimping industry."
