Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY). (Photo, as it appears on www.house.gov)

May 25 –– Just as the Commerce Department was about to issue preliminary antidumping duties on shrimp from Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Ecuador and Brazil in early June, several Senators and Congressmen and women sent letters to Secretary Don Evans complaining that the administration may not be applying fair methods to calculate the duties.

Several of these legislators are on the India Caucuses in both chambers. Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch and Sen. Robert Bennett, both Utah Republicans, in their letter said the Bush administration may not be calculating antidumping duties on a “fair and reasonable” basis to apply them on shrimp exporters from Asia (India being one of these countries) and South America. The group from the House led by Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions wrote to Secretary Evans on the same issue.