Sampling improves the antidumping duty laws by making all exporters subject to review, rather than just the largest. When Commerce selects by export volume, there is little incentive for companies to price fairly in the U.S. market if they know they will never be reviewed – companies which account for the majority of Vietnamese shrimp exports. Sampling also enhances fairness by giving all exporters the opportunity to be reviewed. The Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Action Committee (AHSTAC), an association of domestic shrimp producers represented by PKR, has repeatedly urged Commerce to select respondents through a sampling methodology its administrative reviews.
Commerce in December 2010 solicited input on its proposal to employ sampling as the default respondent selection methodology. Comments in support were filed by the Southern Shrimp Alliance, PKR on behalf of the domestic softwood lumber industry, the Committee to Support U.S. Trade Laws, and the following law firms representing various domestic industries: Skadden, Arps; King & Spalding; Wiley Rein; and Stewart and Stewart. While Commerce finalized its sampling policy in November 2013, today marks the first actual implementation of its new administrative approach.
For more information, read Commerce’s Sampling Memoranda issued September 2 and September 29, 2014.
