HCMC – The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has formally objected to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s about-face, saying it is unfair to switch from Bangladesh to the Philippines as a surrogate country to determine dumping margins for tra fish fillet imports from Vietnam.
In its sixth antidumping duty preliminary administrative review on certain fish fillets from Vietnam, the DOC selected the Philippines as a surrogate country to calculate the anti-dumping tariffs, so five Vietnamese exporters might be slapped prohibitive tariffs of over 100%.
The DOC preliminarily determined the dumping margin for fish imports from Vinh Hoan, Agifish, ESS LLC and South Vina was US$4.2 per kg, and the remaining firm, Vinh Quang, US$2.44, during the review period, August 1, 2008 through July 31, 2009. Another firm, Anvifish, might be subject to a Vietnam-wide rate of US$2.11 per kg.
In the DOC’s preliminary results, the antidumping margins would rise to more than 100%.
VASEP asserted the use of data in the Philippines as a surrogate market economy country to determine the antidumping margins for fish imports from Vietnam was nonsensical.
Vietnam’s catfish farming industry is the world’s largest with an annual processing volume of over 1.2 million tons while the Philippine fish farming sector remains small and lacks a synchronous processing system, so its production cost is certainly higher than in Vietnam, according to a statement of VASEP.
The statement says VASEP will join hands with tra fish exporters to take necessary legal action to prove the legitimacy of the Vietnamese tra farming and processing sector so as to request the DOC to change its preliminary determination in March 2011.
Nguyen Ngoc Vi Tam, deputy general director of the Dong Thap Province-based Vinh Hoan Corporation, told the Daily on Thursday that if the DOC stuck to its preliminary review results in the next six months, Vinh Hoan would take the issue to an international court.
Vinh Hoan said about two weeks ago that it might file a case against the DOC if its tra exports to the U.S. incur anti-dumping duties.
Vinh Hoan ships US$30 million worth of tra fish fillets to the U.S. market a year, around 30% of its total export. Tam noted the company was searching for new markets in preparation for the worst.
The Can Tho City-based company South Vina has described the DOC’s preliminary determination as absurd. This action has resulted from the pressure of the Catfish Farmers of America (CFA), said Duong Viet Thang, deputy general director of the company.
But Thang said the impact on his firm would be insignificant as its annual exports to America totaled about US$1 million, so it would be able to shift to other markets.
The agriculture ministry said this week that the Government would take action to prevent the higher antidumping duties from materializing as this would affect tra exports to other markets.
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