On Thursday the Ministry of Commerce criticized the recent ruling by the US Department of Commerce on Chinese shrimp imports, calling it unfair for Chinese companies.

"The competitiveness of Chinese shrimp exports to the United States comes from favorable weather conditions and relatively low labor costs in China," says the release.

On November 30, the US Department of Commerce published its decision, saying that Chinese companies are exporting shrimp products at prices lower than their fair value, with a dumping rate of 0.07-112.81 percent.

According to the arbitration, 35 exporters will pay an average of 55.23 percent anti-dumping tax, while others will have to pay 112.81 percent for their exports.

Some Chinese companies have complained that the US government has used prices of inappropriate substitute countries in its investigation, which has resulted in high anti-dumping taxes and has blocked shrimp exporters from doing normal business, the release says.

A senior official with the Ministry of Commerce says the US' anti-dumping duties will also lead to job losses in the US shrimp processing industry.

"We hope that the US International Trade Commission will give an objective and fair final arbitration," they said.

The US commission is scheduled to make the final determination on the case by January 12.

(Xinhua News Agency, CRI.com December 3, 2004)