The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) decided yesterday to revoke the 20-year-old anti-dumping duties on Norwegian salmon. Norwegian salmon will now be admitted the same conditions of competition in the U.S. market as other salmon producing countries.
The Norwegian Seafood Council expressed today its satisfaction with the decision of the United States International Trade Commission to revoke the antidumping and countervailing duty orders against Fresh and Chilled Atlantic Salmon from Norway.
NSC’s Director of Market Information, Egil Ove Sundheim, said that – It is gratifying to have these unnecessary trade barriers removed after more than twenty years. The Norwegian industry worked very hard to provide all of the information requested by the United States Government and we are very pleased that our information and arguments were fully considered.
The U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty orders against fresh and chilled Atlantic Salmon from Norway covered whole fresh salmon, and were originally imposed in 1991. Removal of the prohibitive anti-dumping duty of nearly 24% is not considered a start of a significant increase in the exports of whole fresh and chilled salmon from Norway to the US.
– While we do not expect a significant increase in the exports of whole fresh salmon to the U.S. market, the decision opens for Norwegian producers to respond to demand from segments in the US market willing to pay extra for whole fresh Norwegian salmon, said Egil Ove Sundheim.
The U.S market is the world’s largest market for Atlantic Salmon. Before the introduction of the restrictions, now 20 years ago, the US was among Norway’s largest buyers of salmon and of great importance in the early development of the Norwegian salmon farming companies which today forms the world’s leading salmon industry. Today the US market for Atlantic salmon is dominated by fresh whole salmon from Canada and fresh salmon fillets from Chile.
