Tra tariff opposed by group

Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers yesterday expressed indignation over the US Department of Commerce’s preliminary anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnamese tra frozen fillets.

In the sixth administrative review applied for certain Vietnamese tra frozen fillet exports, the department determined to tax duty rates in excess of 100 per cent, far exceeding any prior results in the case which has lasted more than eight years.

In previous department anti-dumping reviews, most Vietnamese exporters enjoyed the lowest tariff of 0.52 per cent.

The association also opposed the department’s “unjustified” change in the surrogate country used to value raw material inputs, suddenly switching from Bangladesh to the Philippines, after consistently rejecting the Philippines in all prior administrative reviews.

The association said using Philippines data as the benchmark was not appropriate because Viet Nam was the biggest tra producer and exporter in the world with 1.2 million tonnes a year, while the Philippines’ tra industry was still fledging and small with undeveloped farming and processing which would raise the price.

“This decision will negatively affect the livelihoods of millions of tra farmers in Viet Nam, as well as US consumers and workers related to tra import activities,” the association said. It said the determination violated the letter and spirit of free-trade agreements between the US and Viet Nam, and asked the department to review the rates in the final determination which would be released in six months. — VNS

Tags: Tra fish tariff, Vietnam Tra fish exports