U.S. extends anti-dumping duty on Vietnam shrimp

CAN THO – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has decided to extend the anti-dumping duty on shrimp imports from Vietnam for five more years.

The ITC voted unanimously to remove the anti-dumping duty on frozen warmwater shrimp from Brazil on May 2 but supported the U.S. shrimp industry’s request to extend the anti-dumping duties on shrimp imports from China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam in the next five years.

It said in a statement that the revocation of the existing anti-dumping duty orders could lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.

Vietnam’s shrimp export sector must prove that it is causing no injury for American shrimp farmers if it wants the U.S. government to revoke the anti-dumping duty on its frozen warmwater shrimp, Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), told the Daily in February.

John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, hailed the commission’s decision as good news for his domestic shrimp industry, and then emphasized that if the countries subject to anti-dumping duties respect fair trade, the duties could be lifted.

Meanwhile, major U.S. wholesalers like Performance Food Group, Costco and Publix Super Markets blasted the extension of anti-dumping duties, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Hoe of VASEP said the anti-dumping tax would continue to be in place as in the past 10 years. The annual administrative review is to determine an official dumping margin for each particular enterprise.

In February, VASEP said the U.S. Department of Commerce last September published a final conclusion on the tenth Period of Review (POR10) on shrimp exports from Vietnam in the period from early February 2014 to late January 2015.

As a result, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation was exempt from the duty as in a number of previous reviews. Although the March 2016 preliminary results showed the enterprise would be subject to a duty of 2.86%.