The US has imposed anti-dumping duty on export of frozen shrimps from India and has also initiated countervailing duty investigations into such exports, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
“USA has imposed anti-dumping duty on frozen shrimps’ exports from India. US Department of Commerce had initiated countervailing duty (CVD) investigations into frozen shrimps exports from India and has preliminarily determined a cash deposit rate of 5.91 per cent for frozen shrimps exports from India,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry D Purandeswari said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
She said the government has taken necessary legal steps by engaging legal consultancy firms in India and the US to contest imposition of CVD on import of shrimp by the US.
“Department of Commerce and Ministry of External Affairs (Embassy of India in USA) are working together for favourable resolution of the issues,” she added.
Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to check if domestic industry has been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports. As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multilateral WTO regime.
As per the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, a country can launch its own investigation and ultimately charge extra duty (countervailing duty) on subsidised imports which it finds are hurting domestic producers.
In reply to another question, she said India has raised its concern over the proposed US Immigration Reform Bill with American authorities.
“The proposed US Immigration Reform Bill is under consideration of the US Congress and is yet to become a law.
As informed by the industry, this bill, in its current form, has several provisions that could potentially impact categories of Indian nationals who provide services in the US and the Indian IT companies with major businesses in the US,’ she added.
