Contact: Chris Gallegos, 202-224-5054

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today called on the U.S. Department of Commerce to promptly act to protect Gulf Coast shrimpers from unlawfully subsidized shrimp imports from seven different nations.

Cochran, ranking member on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, encouraged the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration to act on the determination from the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) that the U.S. shrimp industry is being harmed by imported frozen warmwater shrimp.

“Economic hardships associated with unfair trade practices are apparent to shrimpers all along the Gulf Coast.  The finding by the International Trade Commission is very good news for our shrimpers. The Commerce Department must now be diligent issuing penalties that can level the playing field for the U.S. shrimping industry,” Cochran said.

The Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries in Biloxi is the petitioner in this trade case.  The USITC found that U.S. shrimpers are being “materially injured” by imports from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Ecuador.

According to an USITC announcement, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to investigate these imports and make preliminary countervailing duty determinations in late March.

Today’s USITC announcement, including factual highlights, is available here: http://1.usa.gov/W0r13Z

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