Shrimp enjoys lower anti-dumping tariffs stateside

Shrimp export to the US now enjoys lower tariffs as the US Department of Commerce (DOC) as adjusted results of the administrative review on punitive tariffs on Vietnamese shrimp.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said DOC has just revised down the tariffs announced after the fourth administrative review between February 1, 2008 and January 31, 2009, cutting down tariffs for many Vietnamese exporters.

For example, Nha Trang Seafoods will be imposed a new tariff of 4.89 percent compared to 5.58 percent announced in August, while Minh Phu Co. now sees it at 2.95 percent and others at 3.92 percent.

Tran Thien Hai, chair of Vasep, told the Daily on the phone that the results had been changed by DOC after three companies  Nha Trang Seafoods, Minh Phu and his company Minh Hai Co.  reacted to DOC about miscalculations for the anti-dumping tariffs announced in August. Punitive tariffs on Vietnamese shrimp have been in place since 2004.

Meanwhile, the antidumping tariffs on Vietnamese shrimps have been brought under the spotlight by a special panel of the World Trade Organisation following protests from Vietnam.

The panel of WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body this Wednesday started the review of the US anti-dumping measures on Vietnamese frozen shrimp, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

Vietnam believes that the US use of “zeroing” in its anti-dumping measures on products imported from Vietnam are inconsistent with WTO rules as well as with Vietnam’s protocol of accession, and as a result, Vietnamese shrimp exporters have to pay unfair tariffs. In the first day, the panel listened to presentation and standpoints from both sides.

WTO general director Pascal Lamy, after receiving the Vietnam request on the matter in March, appointed three members to the panel to work on the case. This is Vietnam’s first petition against a WTO member since it joined the global trade club in January 2007.

In the past, two other giant shrimp exporters – India and Thailand – had filed successful complaints against the US for using the zeroing method to calculate anti-dumping tariffs on warm-water shrimp produced in the two countries. – Saigon Times

Tags: anti-dumping tariffs