October 26, 2020

Vietnam's Minh Phu to appeal against US anti-dumping tariffs on frozen shrimp

Minh Phu Seafood Joint Stock Company (JSC) has opposed the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP)'s application of anti-dumping tariffs on its frozen shrimp exports, and would appeal against the decision, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The objection was made after the CBP had applied the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) to conclude that frozen shrimp products exported by JSC to the US market should be taxed in accordance with the anti-dumping duty order imposed on Indian shrimp. It said the company did not provide sufficient evidence that it was not using shrimp originating from India for export to the US.

A representative of the Minh Phu Seafood JSC said that CBP's conclusion was inaccurate and it would appeal against the decision.

CEO of JSC Le Van Quang said the decision was a big surprise for the company since as soon as it had received the CBP's notice of an investigation, Minh Phu had fully cooperated with the CBP and demonstrated clearly how the company handled and separated shrimp of Vietnamese and Indian origin on the production line to ensure that only Vietnamese shrimp was exported to the US.

"Although we actively cooperated and invited investigators from the CBP to visit us in Vietnam, they did not conduct field verification. This has led to the CBP's inaccurate assessment of Minh Phu's imported shrimp and Vietnamese raw shrimp traceability system," Quang says.

Quang added the CBP had applied its own evaluation criteria for shrimp separation methods, and rejected the traceability management method that Minh Phu had been using for more than four years. CBP then applied "available adverse facts" and concluded that Minh Phu had violated the EAPA law.

"This requirement of the CBP is not completely consistent with the production characteristics of the shrimp industry. According to research by the company, no shrimp exporting enterprises have such a traceability system," Quang shares.

Minh Phu has clearly demonstrated its separation and traceability method approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the US Department of Commerce.

According to Quang, the review process was expected to take place within 60 days from the date the appeal is recorded. While awaiting the outcome of its appeal, Minh Phu said it would make every effort to ensure the CBP's ruling did not affect its export business to the US.