Socialist Republic of Vietnam

nhandan.com.vn, Last updated: 17:5 - July 8, 2004

The Chairman of the Vietnam Shrimp Committee has insisted the US Department of Commerce (DOC)'s determinations that Vietnamese businesses dump shrimp on the US market as baseless, saying that Vietnam will continue its fight to make the DOC reconsider and adjust its unjust taxes levied on Vietnamese shrimp.

Talking with Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper recently, Mr Nguyen Van Kich, said the US import taxes on Vietnamese shrimp are arbitrary.

Talking with Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper recently, Mr Nguyen Van Kich, said the US import taxes on Vietnamese shrimp are arbitrary.To obtain justice for Vietnamese businesses and shrimpers, Mr Kich said, his committee will continue the fight in a co-operative spirit and with goodwill to make it clear that in Vietnam shrimp are reared at lower input and labour costs and that it is due to production costs and good quality rather than dumping that Vietnamese shrimp has constituted its competitive edge in the US. "The tax rates must be reduced, even to zero percent," Mr Kich said.

The President of the US Commercial Chamber (AmCham) in Hanoi, Terence Anderson, on the July 7 announcement expressed his concern that the tariff rate of 93% on Vietnamese exported shrimp would harm US businesses and consumers, and inhibit trade between the two countries.

AmCham called the DOC's ruling on the dumping tax margins complicated and pledged to make efforts to bring justice to this important suit.

The Vietnam Shrimp Committee advised Vietnamese enterprises to co-ordinate closely with the US side to create persuasive arguments and prove the correctness of all data provided by them in preparations for the direct investigation by the DOC later this month and for the DOC's final decision on November 24. (VNA)