September 10, 2012
The US Department of Commerce (DoC) announces that Vietnam's pangasius fillet exports to the US have been exempted from anti-dumping taxes.
The decision followed the DoC's eighth preliminary results of administrative review (POR8) for anti-dumping duties on pangasius (tra fish) fillets imported from Vietnam from 1 August 2010 to 31 July 2011.
Of the 18 companies, Vinh Hoan Group has been paying a zero tax rate for four consecutive years.
Truong Dinh Hoe, Secretary General of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that as per the US regulations, any business that is offered a zero tax rate for three consecutive years can be exempted from anti-dumping duties for an indefinite period of time thereafter.
The DoC plans to release its final decision on anti-dumping duties for Vietnamese tra by early 2013.
US regulations mandate that import companies pay taxes in advance based on the previous administrative review. Taxes are collected upon the announcement of a new administrative review.
In March, the DoC decided to impose a rate of US$0.00 per kilogramme on Vietnamese exporting company Vinh Hoan and US$0.03 per kilogramme on 12 additional enterprises, with others having to pay a tax rate of US$2.11 per kilogramme.
According to VASEP, 21.06% of all Vietnam´s pangasius exports in January-June 2012, which were worth US$180 million, went to the US.
Vietnam's pangasius exports to the US took a 35%-leap on-year and reached over US$235 million as of August 15 but exports to the EU market took a 19% dive to US$272 million, VASEP has informed. The US is the single biggest buyer of Vietnamese tra in terms of value, with a 22%-share.
VASEP Vice Chairman, Duong Ngoc Minh, said local firms increased their tra sales to the US after EU demand skid.
Meanwhile, the US's catfish output has faltered: the USDA reported the amount of fish processed in July was 25.1 million pounds, down 6% over the year-ago period. This is due to higher feed material prices and lower catfish prices, which have discouraged US fish growers from raising catfish.
