The US poultry industry believes that an anti-dumping case against US poultry that is reportedly being filed by the People's Republic of China is wholly unjustified. China's action appears to be in retaliation to tariffs announced by the Obama Administration announced late last Friday that will be levied on imports of Chinese-made tyres into the US.

First and foremost, US poultry is not being dumped on the Chinese market. The single largest US poultry export to China is chicken feet and paws, which are highly valued on the Chinese market and can command prices from $0.60 to $0.80 per pound. Conversely, chicken feet and paws have very little value on the US market as a food product and are sold for rendering at pennies per pound.

Under international trade rules, dumping exists when a product is sold in a foreign market at a price lower than the same product is sold domestically and/or in other countries.

China's complaint also alleges that the US government subsidises its poultry industry, which is false.

This is the latest in a series of trade issues with China involving US poultry that can be traced back to a provision in the 2009 House agriculture appropriations bill that prevents USDA from promulgating a proposed rule to allow exports of cooked Chinese chicken to the US by withholding funding from the agency to conduct the necessary risk assessment that would allow the rule to proceed.

The provision was also included in the most recent omnibus appropriations bill and the House version of the 2010 agriculture appropriations bill. The Senate version of the bill, however, contains language that somewhat offsets the provision.

The US poultry industry and numerous other agriculture organizations and companies have gone on record in opposition to these anti-China provisions. China has been very critical of these provisions and in April filed for consultations with the US in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Our industry has been very supportive of China's efforts to challenge the US action on cooked Chinese poultry imports," said USAPEEC president, Jim Sumner. "We are hopeful that these dumping and countervailing duty allegations against our industry will be soon rescinded. It's obvious that there is no legal justification for these charges, and we see little that can be accomplished other than a disruption in trade."

Mr Sumner said that had USAPEEC was one of a number of organizations that sent a letter last week to the US Trade Representative urging the administration not to impose increased tariffs on Chinese tyres.

China has over the last year become the leading market for US poultry. In 2008, the US exported nearly 800,000 tonnes of poultry to China with a value of nearly $722 million. For the first seven months of 2009, the US exported more than 451,000 tonnes of poultry to China valued at $393 million.

Further Reading

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