March 8, 2013

A preliminary anti-dumping tariff of 0% for Vietnamese shrimps applicable for the February 1, 2011 to January 31, 2012 was announced by the US Department of Commerce (DOC).

This was informed by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). This is the DOC's first time officially acknowledging that Vietnamese shrimp exporters were not dumping their product in the US.

Minh Phu Seafood Corporation and Nha Trang Joint Stock Seafood Company are the two defendants that will now benefit from a 0% tax rate for the period in question, SGGP reports.

This is a move which VASEP believes will open the door for more business, especially because the US was Vietnam's second-biggest market for Vietnamese shrimp exports last year (Japan ranked first) with exports of US$454 million and accounting for more than 20% of Vietnam's shrimp sales abroad, VNA reports.

In January 2013, the US stole the first spot from Japan and became the largest importer of Vietnamese shrimp, achieving 37% growth against January 2012. Meanwhile, the US International Trade Administration (USITC) under the DOC said it will delay a preliminary decision on whether to impose countervailing duties on Vietnamese frozen warm-water shrimp imports until May 28. Originally, the DOC was to issue the preliminary decision on March 25 after the USITC confirmed that the US shrimp industry had been harmed by subsidised shrimp imports from countries including Vietnam.

On February 8, however, the petitioner asked the DOC to extend the preliminary decision to make for a more thorough investigation. The decision is now expected to be announced in August 2013. On December 28, 2012, the US Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) filed a lawsuit with the DOC asking the government to impose countervailing duties on shrimp imported from seven countries: India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Ecuador. COGSI also asked USITC to run an anti-subsidy investigation into shrimp imports from those countries. The investigation was launched by the DOC on January 18, 2013.