Ecuador to Ask U.S. to Exclude Shrimp from 10% Import Surcharge

Ecuador intends to request that the United States exclude shrimp from a 10% surcharge applied to national imports. The request is slated to be presented during an upcoming bilateral meeting, according to the Minister of Production and Foreign Trade, Luis Alberto Jaramillo.

Jaramillo explained in an interview with Primicias that the petition will be channeled through the Ecuador-U.S. Trade and Investment Council (TIC). This meeting, initially scheduled for June in Ecuador, was postponed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and is now anticipated between August and September.

In addition to shrimp, the Ecuadorian government plans to ask for canned tuna, tuna pouches, and broccoli to be added to the list of products exempt from the U.S. surcharge. Currently, the United States imposes a 10% surcharge on products originating from Ecuador.

Minister Jaramillo indicated that Ecuador had already presented its arguments to U.S. authorities during a meeting in Washington three weeks prior to the interview. Despite Ecuador's insistence on obtaining exemptions for several export products, the Minister believes it is unlikely that the United States will remove the surcharge generally. He noted that Ecuador's current surcharge rate is 2.5 percentage points lower than that applied to other countries, which face a 12.5% surcharge. Therefore, the fate of shrimp and other products hinges on the outcome of negotiations at the upcoming bilateral meeting.