HCM City (VNA) – The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has imposedanti-dumping duty of 2.39 USD per kilogramme on frozen tra fish fillets whichwere imported from Vietnam between August 1, 2015 and July 31, 2016 following its13th administrative review (POR 13).

TheVietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) has voiced its objection to the DOC’s anti-dumping tax, saying that it goescontrary to the trend of  free trade andaffects Vietnam-US bilateral trade relations.

According to the association, theDOC’s decision is based on a misreading of the facts and a departure fromlong-standing policy and practice in the antidumping reviews in calculatingduty rates for mandatory and separate rates respondents. 

The DOC applied adverse fact available (AFA) and forced Go DangSeafood Joint Stock Company (GODACO) to pay 2.39 USD per kilogramme in anti-dumpingduty, saying that the company did not provide necessary information for thedepartment.

In fact, the mandatory respondent,GODACO fully cooperated in the review and supplied all data and informationrequested by the DOC in a timely manner. The data was complete andaccurate and reported in accordance with its US terms of sale and its normalbusiness and production practices. 

In addition, DOC applied theAFA-based tax rate to calculate the average duty rates for separate ratesrespondents even when those companies provided full and timely documents asrequested by the DOC.

VASEP and the relevant trade remedybureaus of the Vietnamese Government are studying all options in addressingthis unfair result and its legality under US law.

In the first six months of the year, the US was the largest importer ofVietnamese tra fish, occupying 22 percent of the market share. Along with thehigh anti-dumping duty, the US Farm Bill is also a barrier for Vietnamese trafish export to this market.-VNA