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April 2, 2007
Shrimp Protectionism Revisited
Today the WSJ had an excellent article on how U.S. shrimpers are essentially extorting money from foreign competitors they are unable to compete with on price. Not only are tariffs being levied on shrimp imports, but additionally, foreign competitors are making direct cash payments to the Southern Shrimp Alliance to avoid further lawsuits. Talk about a racket.
What’s interesting is the justification.
John Williams, head of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, explained that when imports from places like Thailand and Vietnam suppressed prices he “had trouble making debt payments, especially on his boats,” he had to “cancel his medical insurance,” and was forced to return “his wife’s Chevy Suburban to the dealer.” To this day he still has tens of thousands in credit card debt, which is offered as justification for a further increase in tariffs his organization applied for in February.
Not mentioned is the flip side of this coin. As I reported last year from Vietnam, these tariffs mean people like Hien Le are being thrown out of work. Like John Williams, Hien faces economic insecurity as well. He had hoped to buy, not a Suburban, but materials to build a simple brick home for his family with potential earnings from a small shrimp farm. That dream ended when U.S. tariffs put him out of a job and made hjs small plot of land worthless. His wife and two daughters are pictured below.
Hien Le doesn’t want tariffs on American shrimp, nor is he extorting additional cash payments from American shrimpers. He just wants to be able to sell his shrimp to willing American buyers. Should we deny him that right simply because he was born in Vietnam instead of Florida?
Posted by Peter Mork at April 2, 2007 4:28 PM
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