Tidal waves and tariffs: the feds' foolish fight against Third World shrimp.

• Author: Howley, Kerry
• Position: Rank

LESS THAN TWO weeks after a 40-foot wave flattened swaths of Southeast Asia, the United States slapped a new round of tariffs on India and Thailand. As the federal government promised $350 million and private citizens pledged even more, the message to survivors was clear: Have our Marines, our pity, and our cash, but for the love of God, do not send us your cheap shrimp.

Thanks to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Thai shrimp farmers have had to deal with more than flattened farms. Along with Vietnam, India, Ecuador, China, and Brazil, Thailand is the unlucky target of an anti-dumping suit filed by American shrimpers. In January the ITC sided with the plaintiffs, paving the way for tariffs.

It's not surprising that Americans haven't heard much about the shrimp debacle: Shrimping represents a tiny fraction of our national economy. But in the targeted countries of Southeast Asia, things are a little different.

The last decade has seen developing nations turn to aquaculture as a way to climb out of poverty and jump into the world economy. It's been a rare development success story for international aid organizations, whose start-up assistance American shrimpers refer to as "unfair subsidies."

The dumping allegations are based on discredited methodologies, but it doesn't take sketchy calculations to figure out why imported shrimp is such a bargain. In the U.S., shrimpers haul out gas-guzzling trawlers and catch shrimp in the wild, while in Asia, farmers raise shrimp in mesh cages. Throw in cheaper labor and better weather, and developing nations have a clear advantage in the global market. Dumping? Hardly. This is free trade--a gospel Americans have been preaching to Southeast Asia for decades.

Subsidies do have their place in the anti-dumping hysteria, but the handouts are happening right here at home. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, a coalition of American shrimpers, has happily accepted federal cash to fund its war against farmers in impoverished countries like Vietnam.

But if you're not so keen on having your taxes keep an industry on life support, worry not. Thanks to something called the Byrd Amendment, Louisiana's shrimpers should be off the...