Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Vietnam acknowledged a U.S. decision to reduce anti-dumping duties on the country’s shrimp exports Dec. 1, but once again affirmed that Vietnamese companies did not dump shrimp to the American market.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) did carefully examine the clear and transparent documents given by Vietnamese shrimp exporters, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

But, the decision is only close to the actual reality, said VASEP in a statement in response to the Tuesday ruling.

The country is still calling on the ruling to be overturned, as Vietnamese shrimp producers accused of dumping shrimp are private companies which receive no subsidies from the government, said VASEP, which means these companies should not be subject to tariffs at all.

The DOC on Tuesday upheld the slap of penalty tariffs on shrimp imports from Vietnam, saying the country sold shrimp to the U.S. at below-market prices, but lowered the anti-dumping tariffs to 4.13 to 25.76 per cent. In the July preliminary ruling by the DOC, Vietnam was facing tariffs ranging from 12.11 to 93.13 per cent.

In the preliminary ruling, the DOC had not taken into consideration the accused shrimp companies' claim that it “paid different amounts for different sizes of shrimp", said DOC Assistant Secretary James Jochum in a conference.

This time, the DOC took the fact into account following an inspection on shrimp producers in Vietnam, leading to the drop in duties on shrimp imports from Vietnam, said Mr. Jochum.

But, one Vietnamese producer said the significant decline in penalty tariffs showed that Vietnamese companies did not dump shrimp into the American market.

“The margin of 4.13 per cent is acceptable, but we are not satisfied,” said another producer. “It must be zero per cent,” he added.

VASEP also requested the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) review the case in a fair and objective manner to avoid antagonizing the business of Vietnamese shrimpers and the interest of American consumers.

On Tuesday, the ITC conducted a final debate on the case. By mid-January next year, the ITC will determine whether the imports from Vietnam are a true cause of material injury to the U.S. domestic shrimp industry.

If the result is affirmative, Vietnamese shrimp exports will be subject to the duties as of February 2005.

Reported by Quang Thuan and Xuan Danh – Translated by Hieu Trung.
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 02 December, 2004, 00:01:07 (GMT+7)
Copyright Thanh Nien News