ANTI-DUMPING CASE: CHINESE CRAWFISH
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The Louisiana crawfish industry is pulling out all the stops to keep
crawfish producers in China from competing with them in the U.S. Their
main tactic is to get the Commerce Department's Import Administration to
declare that the Chinese are dumping crawfish by selling them below cost.
- Weather problems severely disrupted Louisiana crawfish production in
1994 and 1995, and the state lost its market dominance as China began to
make up the shortfall.
- In 1996 crawfish processors persuaded the Louisiana legislature to
appropriate $350,000 to petition the Commerce Department for protection.
- Now the Commerce Department has set anti-dumping duties ranging from
85 to 201 percent of the price the Chinese charge -- implying that Chinese
crawfish farmers have been selling their crustaceans for just one-third
to two-thirds of their production cost.
- The Louisianans' suit against the Chinese is likely to be decided tomorrow
by the quasi-judicial United States International Trade Commission.
Critics of U.S. anti-dumping laws say they are nothing but a device to
keep out competition and should be scrapped immediately.
Source: Peter Passell, "Protecting America's Shores from those Chinese
Crawfish," New York Times, August 28, 1997.
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