The US reduces import tariffs on pangasius fish for Vietnamese businesses.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has just announced the final results of the ninth administrative review (POR9) of the anti-dumping case against pangasius fish in the U.S. market, applicable to shipments exported between August 1, 2011 and July 31, 2012.

Preparing to freeze pangasius fish meat. Photo: VNA

Accordingly, the individual anti-dumping duties for both mandatory and voluntary respondent companies have decreased compared to the preliminary duties announced in early September 2013.

Specifically, import duties from the two defendant companies were reduced 14 times, with the tax rate decreasing from 0.42 USD/kg to 0.03 USD/kg, and from Hung Vuong Group, with the tax rate decreasing by more than half, from 2.15 USD/kg to 1.2 USD/kg.

The remaining 23 voluntary respondent companies (individual tariff rates) will be subject to a tariff of $0.42/kg, a reduction of more than half from the preliminary rate of $0.99/kg. The nationwide general tariff rate (for Vietnamese companies not yet subject to individual tariffs in the US) remains unchanged at $2.11/kg.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Processing and Export (VASEP), although the tax rate has been reduced, it still disadvantages Vietnamese pangasius exporting businesses. This is because the aforementioned tax rates are still higher than what Vietnamese businesses would like.

Explaining this situation, Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP, said that some Vietnamese businesses have evidence to prove that they did not dump pangasius into the US market during the period from August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012 (the period of POR9 review); that is, some Vietnamese businesses wanted the final result of POR9 to confirm to the DOC that they did not engage in dumping.

"The facts prove that the export of Vietnamese pangasius to the US has not threatened the US catfish industry; on the contrary, it has created jobs for the US business in Vietnamese pangasius products, while providing a high-quality whitefish product at a reasonable price and a stable supply for US consumers," Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe emphasized.

Therefore, VASEP calls on the DOC to carefully consider the investigation process and the imposition of anti-dumping duties during administrative reviews in a spirit of respect and democracy, for the benefit of American consumers, the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on the pangasius production and processing industry in the Mekong Delta, and the trade relationship between the two countries.

According to Vietnam+