US shrimp probe dents Chinese exports

China's Guolian Aquatic Products Co Ltd will see a severe impact from the US Commerce Department's countervailing duty investigations on frozen warm-water shrimp from China and six other countries, which was launched on Jan 18, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Wednesday.

Chinese prawn exports account for 3.8 percent of total US prawn imports.

Guolian delivered about 90 percent of China's prawn exports, and is also the only Chinese company that enjoys a zero-tariff policy on its exports, the report said.

The probe was launched following a petition filed by the US Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries, which alleged that producers and exporters from China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam received financial assistance from their governments.

The probe is the first US countervailing investigation into Chinese exports this year and also the first into Chinese agricultural products.