A meeting of the exporters held in Visakhapatanam recently decided to seek the services of a law firm for formal application of individual exporters to support the filing of applications and also to present matters before the US Department of Commerce (DoC), according to Seafood Exporters Association of India (Seai) secretary-general Elias Sait.
He told FE that the association was also looking at the option of having an Indian law firm to take up the case this time. During the initial proceeding and the first review whose determination is yet to be announced, the association had sought the services of US law firms. A formal discussion was held with a Delhi-based firm.
Though there was a 90-day period for the withdrawal of applications after February 28, the last day for filing applications seeking review, it was unlikely that some of the exporters would go for an out-of-court settlement with the petitioners Southern Shrimp Alliance (SSA) this time, he felt. Given the prospects of a lower duty and also with chances of several others in the US also petitioning for review, any agreement with the SSA would not be binding on the DoC, he said.
Also, the ruling of the WTO panel against the US practice of zeroing (ignoring prices above the fixed level for calculating anti-dumping margins) in the case of shrimp exports from Ecuador and the WTO constituting a panel in India's plea against customs bonds over and above the duty should turn things in India's favour. The WTO ruling in India's case was expected early next month.
Source: The Financial Express
India's shrimp exporters to challenge US anti-dumping duty
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