US reduces import tax on pangasius for Vietnamese businesses

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has just announced the final results of the ninth administrative review (POR9) of the anti-dumping lawsuit against pangasius in this market, applied to export shipments in the period from August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012.

Preparing to freeze tra fish meat. Photo: VNA

Accordingly, the individual anti-dumping tax rates of mandatory defendants and voluntary defendants are both lower than the preliminary tax rates announced in early September 2013.

Specifically, the import tax rate from two mandatory defendant enterprises, Vinh Hoan Corporation (Vinh Hoan Corp) decreased 14 times with the tax rate reduced from 0.42 USD/kg to 0.03 USD/kg and Hung Vuong Seafood Corporation (Hung Vuong Group) decreased by more than half with the rate from 2.15 USD/kg to 1.2 USD/kg.

The remaining 23 voluntary respondent enterprises (individual tax rates) will be subject to a tax rate of 0.42 USD/kg, more than half the preliminary rate of 0.99 USD/kg. The general national tax rate (Vietnamese enterprises that do not have their own tax rates in the US) remains unchanged at 2.11 USD/kg.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), although the tax rate has been reduced, it still causes disadvantages for Vietnamese pangasius exporting enterprises. Because the above tax rates are still higher than the expectations of Vietnamese enterprises.

Explaining this fact, Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of VASEP, said that some Vietnamese enterprises have grounds to prove that they did not dump pangasius into the US during the period from August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012 (POR9 review period); that is, some Vietnamese enterprises wanted the final result of POR9 for them to be confirmed by DOC as not dumping.

"The reality proves that exporting Vietnamese pangasius to the US has not threatened the US catfish industry but on the contrary has created jobs for the US Vietnamese pangasius products business while providing a good quality white fish product with reasonable price and stable supply for US consumers," Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe emphasized.

Accordingly, VASEP calls on DOC to carefully consider the investigation process and impose anti-dumping tax during administrative reviews in the spirit of respect and democracy for the interests of US consumers, the lives of millions of people who depend on the production and processing of pangasius in the Mekong Delta, and the trade relationship between the two countries.

According to Vietnam+