US reduces anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese pangasius

The U.S. Department of Commerce has scrapped preliminary anti-dumping duties on pangasius exported by certain Vietnamese companies.

Employees work at a pangasius factory in Vietnam's Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang. Photo by Reuters.

This is the preliminary conclusion of the DOC after investigating pangasius exported between August 1, 2017, and July 31, 2018, by Vietnamese companies included in the U.S.’s 15th period of review, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) quoted the DOC as saying in a statement.

The U.S. had slapped specific anti-dumping rates on six Vietnamese exporters after its previous review covering pangasius shipped between August 2016 and July 2017. Five exporters got a rate of $1.37 per kilogram while a sixth, Hung Vuong Group, was slapped with $3.87.

The DOC continues to maintain an antidumping rate of $2.39 per kilogram on what it calls the "Vietnam-wide entity", which applies to all other exporters who are not mandatorily included or have applied to be included in its anti-dumping review.

It said it would continue its anti-dumping review and announce final rates within 120 days of publishing its preliminary rates. This is likely to happen around February next year, MoIT said.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), pangasius exports to the U.S., Vietnam's second largest market, had fallen by 40 percent year-on-year to $221 million in the first nine months of this year.

This was a result of the high anti-dumping duties set by the DOC, VASEP said.

Total pangasius exports this year are worth $1.46 billion, down 8.5 percent year-on-year, with China, the biggest market, accounting for 30.9 percent, and the U.S. for 14.3 percent.