A coalition of US restaurants, grocers, seafood distributors and others has been launched to fight a US trade panel ruling that could lead to anti-dumping tariffs against six countries, including India.

The newly formed Shrimp Task Force said Thursday the case could end up hurting many US industries and consumers.

The case, involving $2.4 billion in imports, "could make shrimp once again a delicacy only the rich can afford and adversely impact thousands of American workers," the task force said in a statement.

The quasi-judicial US International Trade Commission voted in February for a finding against shrimp and prawns from Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam.

It said there was a "reasonable indication" that the imported crustaceans, allegedly being dumped in the United States at unfair prices, harm or threaten the local industry.

That means the Department of Commerce will press ahead with anti-dumping investigations and make a preliminary finding -- which could mean import tariffs or quotas -- by about June 8, the ITC said.

The industries petitioning in the case are seeking duties of 30 percent to over 200 percent.

The new coalition includes the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, which fought the hotly contested US steel tariffs.

"The goal of the Shrimp Task Force is to guarantee that shrimp continues to be widely available at a reasonable price for American consumers, and to ensure that the 250,000 American workers employed in shrimp consuming industries are not harmed by this petition," said Erik Autor of the National Retail Federation, part of the new coalition.

"When it boils down to it, this trade case is nothing more than an attempt by a small group to convince the US government to place a food tax on consumers, which in turn, provides petitioners with a hefty financial windfall -- all at the expense of American consumers."

American Seafood Distributors Association president Wally Stevens added: "This petition could take three quarters of this country's shrimp out of restaurants and grocery stores. The only way American consumers can be assured of a steady supply of shrimp, as they have become accustomed to, is to defeat this petition."

The Souther Shrimp Alliance, which represents the industry in eight US states, disputed the Task Force's claims, saying thousands of fishermen and shrimp farmers have lost their jobs.

"The US shrimp industry is not seeking a government handout," Eddie Gordon, the alliance's president, said in a statement.

"We are asking that the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission determine whether or not the rules of trade have been violated and the US shrimp industry has been harmed," he said.

Gordon said the cost of shrimp entrees at US restaurants increased by 28 percent from 2000 to 2003, despite a major drop in wholesale prices.

"It is hypocritical for restaurants and retailers to claim that fair trade would be the cause of increasing consumer prices for shrimp, when the glut of low priced shrimp has not made shrimp more affordable for the average American," he said.

- AFP