May 18, 2011

US revises duties for Vietnam's shrimp companies

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has amended its final anti-dumping duties from 2006-2007 for 22 Vietnamese shrimp companies.

The move was in response to the ruling in Amanda Foods. Accordingly, the 22 Vietnamese shrimp exporters enjoy the de minimis duty of 0.01.

If the court ruling is not appealed or, if appealed, is upheld by the Circuit Court, the DoC will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to assess anti-dumping duties on entries of shrimp during this time period based on these revised assessment rates.

The ruling, if it stands, effectively would end duties on Vietnamese shrimp exports to the US by these companies. This is because although the anti-dumping duties are still in effect, once companies have achieved de minimis duties, the history of shrimp anti-dumping duties shows they tend to stay at that level.

Earlier, the US axed its anti-dumping duties of 3.92% to 1.52% for 29 Vietnamese shrimp exporters.