The letter incorrectly states, "the Department of Commerce staff is considering omitting established practices" in the shrimp case. In essence, the letter alleges the Department of Commerce of biases even before it makes a decision. The antidumping regulations, however, are administered under due process laws and are not open to methods outside of the regulations. U.S. antidumping findings and methodologies are subject to federal court appeal and review international tribunals, preventing manipulation and biases. Specifically, the letter fears the Department will "construct prices" for shrimp in order to make an apples-to-apples price comparison between shrimp sold in the U.S. market and the home or third country market. A substantial portion of shrimp sales involve a comparison of identical products and do not require any adjustments. Where there are not identical products, the Department has a long established practice that allow for apples-to-apples comparisons. The lawyers on both sides of the shrimp dispute are presenting their arguments regarding the most appropriate methods to make these comparisons. Despite political pressure, the Department should use the methodology that provides the most accurate, apples-to-apples comparison of shrimp prices in the United States to shrimp prices in the home or third country market based upon the antidumping regulations. Dumping is a violation of the rules of free trade and should be fully offset through the application of U.S. trade laws in a prompt manner. The U.S. trade laws are consistent with international trade agreements and similar to the laws of almost every one of our trading partners. Thousands of U.S. shrimpers, hundreds of companies, and coastal communities throughout eight southern states are relying upon strong enforcement these established laws to offset the market distortions caused by dumped shrimp imports.