Shrimp Tariffs Upheld

The only good part about this decision is that the tariffs were smaller than what were sought. Some of the targeted countries have already threatened to challenge the tariffs in the World Trade Organization, which could authorize retaliation against U.S. products. The biggest losers in this battle are the consumers of seafood, of course, who stand to pay higher prices at the grocery store as a result.

Wally Stevens, president of Boston-based seafood distributor Slade Gorton Co., said the tariff decision "says 'bah humbug' to American consumers who have come to enjoy eating affordable shrimp."

Stevens, who also heads the shrimp task force of the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, the shrimpers' main opposition in the case, said the decision would injure domestic companies like his own, which rely on a steady supply of imported shrimp to produce low-priced products. But American consumers would suffer the worst from the resulting rising prices, he said.