Vietnam says to head off U.S. tra anti-dumping tariffs

The agriculture ministry has said the Government would take action if the U.S. imposes new anti-dumping tariffs on tra fish imports from Vietnam, which could amount to 136%.

Tra fish harvested at a farm in the Mekong Delta. Vietnam is trying to prevent the possible U.S. anti-dumping levy on tra imports from Vietnam, which might reach 136%

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Luong Le Phuong told reporters in HCMC on Tuesaday that the Government would do something to prevent this; otherwise, it would affect tra exports to other markets.

“Though tra exporters are not totally dependent on America, the levy may set a negative precedent by encouraging other markets like the EU and Middle East to follow suit. That’s why we must make concerted effort to cope with the matter,” Phuong said.

The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) has said unofficially that the anti-dumping tariffs for products of certain Vietnamese seafood exporters might reach 136%. In a review of the tariffs, DOC used the Philippines as the third-country market to determine dumping margins for Vietnamese tra fish, instead of Bangladesh, thus leading the tariffs to rise.

If the new prohibitively high tariffs are imposed in March next year, many tra fish exporters will certainly leave this market.

Andrew B. Schroth, advocate of the Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP who has advised tra fish exporters on the anti-dumping case, said that if DOC took this decision, it could be seen punitive rather than variable from the last time.

“Though the final rates will not be released until six months later, related sides must work very hard in order to divert the decision,” Schroth told the press conference at the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers office in HCMC.

The possible measures which Vietnam should take, he said, include using all available channels in the Philippines, both legal and political, to prove that the choice of the Philippines as a third country to consider as the benchmark is not at all appropriate.

The Philippines is, in many aspects, far different from Vietnam. Labor, business management cost and even the raw material price are higher than in Vietnam, but they were used for the calculation of dumping margins of Vietnam’s tra fish.

A source from the agriculture ministry, who requested anonymity, said earlier that it was due to the growing popularity of the fish on the American market that had resulted in the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA) lobbying against Vietnamese tra fish.

Last week, John Connelly, president of the U.S. National Fisheries Institute, said during his visit to Vietnam that Vietnamese tra had for the first time become one of the most favorite fish in the U.S.

This explains why DOC suddenly shifted to the Philippines as a third country to calculate dumping margins, the ministry source said.

In the previous anti-dumping review, a majority of Vietnamese exporters enjoyed the lowest tariff of 0.52% and some were even recognized as not dumping the fish on the American market.

The anti-dumping tariffs for Vietnamese tra exports to the U.S. have impacted on the local industry since 2003. Last year tra exports to this market totaled US$134 million, about 10% of the total export.