September 19, 2006

 

US confesses wrong calculation of tax on Vietnamese seafood exporter

 

 

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has admitted inaccuracy in calculating preliminary anti-dumping duty on catfish imported from a Vietnamese seafood export company.

 

Last week, the DOC's Import Administration, International Trade Administration sent a letter to Ho Chi Minh City-based QVD Food to apologise for the mistake, which increased the company's tax liability four-fold. 

 

The anti-dumping tax on QDV should have been 14.51 percent instead of 66.34 percent as announced by DOC in May, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Export and Producers (VASEP).

 

The QDV said the miscalculated tax arose from the DOC's miscalculation in frozen warehouse cost and foreign exchange rate.

 

In May, DOC amended the anti-dumping duties on catfish imports from Vietnam with different companies having their taxes either raised or cut.

 

The penal tax on giant tra and basa catfish exporter, Vinh Hoan Company, was cut sharply to 6.81 percent from an earlier 36.84 percent. However, for another company, Cataco, its tax was doubled to a whopping 80.88 percent from 45.81 percent.

 

Both were companies that had agreed to cooperate when the US undertook the anti-dumping action against catfish imports in 2002.

 

The other two companies which offered cooperation, Agrifish and Nam Viet Ltd., Co, had tariffs of 47.05 percent and 53.68 percent respectively.

 

Seven other exporters pay taxes ranging from 45.55 to 63.88 percent.

 

Such heavy tariffs have prompted Vietnamese seafood companies to move in search of other markets or export other processed seafood to the US, such as fillet, which fetch higher profits. It seems there is no lack of market for Vietnamese catfish, where demand from Europe rose 75 percent last year to reach more than US$100 million.

 

A similar rise was seen in exports to ASEAN countries, whose orders were worth US$40 million, VASEP said.