US imposes higher anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese catfish

Many Vietnamese firms have suffered an anti-dumping tax of up to USD 3.87 per kilo on the catfish by the US Department of Commerce.

Many Vietnamese firms have suffered an anti-dumping tax of up to USD 3.87 per kilo on the catfish by the US Department of Commerce (DOC).

 

Illustrative photo. US imposes higher anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese catfish

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the final results of the 14th period of review POR14 are higher than expected.

Last year, the US DOC announced the preliminary results which showed that Fimex Vietnam and Nha Trang Seaproduct Company did not dump frozen warm-water shrimp exports in the US and would enjoy zero percent anti-dumping duty on the products. The other 29 firms which have applied for the determination of different tax rates would also enjoy the duty of zero percent.

However, the final results show that Hung Vuong Group would face an anti-dumping duty of USD3.87 per kilo. Duty tax on some other firms including CP Vietnam, CL-Fish, Green Farms Seafood and Vinh Quang Group is USD1.37 per kilo, an increase of 0.96 US cents compared to the announced preliminary results. The average duty is USD2.39 per kilo.

According to VASEP catfish exports to the US will drop in the second quarter. While waiting for the official announcement, export turnover to the US already dropped by 22.8% and 44.4% in February and March respectively. The US was once Vietnam's biggest customer but is now the third largest catfish market, behind China and the EU, with USD71.16m export value in the first quarter.

China has also reduced the amount of imported catfish in the first quarter.

The total export revenue still reached USD472.2m, an increase of 7.8% in the first quarter, thanks to exports to the EU, Mexico, ASEAN countries and other markets.