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United States has imposed taxes ranging between 3.56 and 27.49 per cent on shrimp imports from India in the second phase of a probe into the petition alleging "dumping" at low prices.
Shrimp procured from Brazil, Ecuador and Thailand would also cost more after the US Commerce department on Thursday announced a preliminary decision to tax imports.
The agency said a preliminary probe indicated imports from the four countries were sold "at less than fair value," opening the door to punitive tariffs.
The duties would range up to 67.80 per cent for Brazil, 6.08 to 9.35 per cent for Ecuador, and 5.56 to 10.25 per cent for Thailand, the Commerce Department said.
Earlier this month, US had imposed duty on shrimp imports from China and Vietnam.
A separate investigation was used for the other four countries because they are considered market-based economies, unlike China and Vietnam.
The duties may be adjusted, but will be collected until a final ruling by the quasi-judicial International Trade Commission in January 2005.
The Shrimp Task Force, representing grocers, restaurants, processors and distributors have criticised the decision to impose tax on shrimp imports.
"These four countries are not dumping shrimp in the US. They are efficiently producing a high-quality product, and the US industry has failed to compete effectively with these imports," said Wally Stevens, chairman of the Shrimp Task Force.
"This is a case of the current administration imposing a new food tax on millions of Americans that will do nothing to help the shrimp industry except line the pockets of a few shrimpers. It's a classic case of unnecessary, undeserved and unwise protectionism," Stevens said.
The group representing the US shrimp producers that filed the petition welcomed the decision.
They argue that their wild-caught shrimp cannot compete with farm-raised shrimp from other countries.
"We commend the Department of Commerce for imposing anti-dumping duties, but feel that in certain instances the duties under-estimate the seriousness of the violations," said Eddie Gordon, president of the Southern Shrimp Alliance.
The US shrimp producers had demanded higher tariffs ranging between 32 per cent and 166 per cent on imports from these four countries.
Shrimp imports account for nearly 90 per cent of all shrimp consumed in the US. Imports from the six countries targeted by the domestic shrimpers account for approximately two-thirds of total shrimp consumption in US.
"The Shrimp Task Force plans to be very active in the coming months to make sure this ill-conceived tax on consumers is eliminated," said Stevens.