July 10, 2014    

US DOC introduces new countervailing duties for Vietnam pangasius
 

The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) will impose anti-dumping duties on pangasius imported from Vietnam, ranging from zero to US$2.39 per kilogram, the Vietnam Plus reports.

This is based on its tenth period of review (POR 10), which is based on imports of tra - also known as pangasius or swai - fish exported to the US between August 2012 and July 2013.

Vinh Hoan JSC, one of the leading local tra fish exporters to the US, who was under investigation and removed from the list of Vietnamese tra fish exporters, receives a zero tax rate.

However, duties on Hung Vuong Corporation, one of the large tra fish exporters to the US, and 23 other companies, were revised from US$1.20 to US$0.58 per kilo.

Vietnam's Trade Office said the duties were unreasonable since the DOC has continued using Indonesian rates as the sole benchmark when calculating the anti-dumping rate.

The new duties will only be effective after the final decision is made, and relevant parties will have 120 days to reply before then.

According to Vietnam's General Department of Customs, export value of pangasius to the US in the first five months this year plunged year-on-year by 26% to US$126.6 million.