Senator John Neely Kennedy previously served as Treasurer of Louisiana from 2000 to 2017.

Louisiana shrimp industry supports tariffs on Chinese imports

UNITED STATES
Tuesday, July 17, 2018, 02:30 (GMT + 9)

Louisiana shrimp industry representatives welcomed President Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on Chinese seafood imports. Their support is due to fears that cheaper, mostly farm-raised imports has made it difficult for them to compete.

As it was informed in the newspaper Daily Comet, Members of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force, meeting in Houma, said they are considering a push for similar 10 per cent tariffs on other top countries that send shrimp to the US, including India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“We had a record number of shrimp coming in and prices were so low that fishermen couldn’t make any money,” said Acy Cooper, task force member and board president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. “We’re in Washington trying to get meetings.”

On the other hand, the National Fisheries Institute, which represents a cross-section of the US seafood industry, opposes the Trump tariffs.

“The misguided strategy, that sees the US and [China] placing unwarranted tariffs on the other’s seafood products, will only hurt workers and consumers in their own countries,” group President John Connelly said in a statement.

“American jobs at processing plants throughout the country are at risk of losing raw material from China. That means American workers suffer,” he added.

In his view, tariffs amount to taxes on American consumers that limit choice, stating that Chinese consumers will also be deprived of Maine lobsters, squid from New Jersey and California and cod, pollock and salmon from Alaska.

“The National Fisheries Institute calls on policy makers in both countries to demonstrate real leadership by sitting down and negotiating before lasting and unnecessary damage is done,” Connelly said.

The Louisiana Shrimp Association and US Senator John Kennedy, (Louisiana), were among groups that lobbied the Trump administration to include shrimp on the list of items included in the Chinese tariffs.

Kennedy met with local shrimpers last month in Houma and vowed take up the issue.

China was the sixth biggest exporter of shrimp to the US last year, figures from the National Marine Fisheries Service show.

The US imported 50,000 tons from China with a market value of about USD 335 million.

India has surged to the No. 1 supplier, sending 235,000 tons into the US last year, up nearly 40 per cent from 2016, worth an estimated USD 2.17 billion.

According to task force members, the US imports about 3 billion pounds of shrimp a year and levying tariffs on that total could produce more than USD 100 million a year.

They also discussed pushing parishes and the state Legislature to levy a 10 cent tax on imported shrimp, with at least some of the money going to Louisiana shrimpers harmed by what they consider unfair trade practices.

In addition, some task force said they want the state and federal governments to require labels on all shrimp so customers know where it came from.

These members said they are also considering pushing for a bill in Congress that would give federal aid to fishermen the same way farmers get help from the government when their industry faces market crises.

Related articles:

- Further seafood products to be affected by tariff war with China
- Shrimp industry requests extra tariffs on Chinese farmed seafood imports 

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