Exporters oppose US anti-dumping taxes on tra fish
Exporters oppose US anti-dumping taxes on tra fish
The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said it opposed anti-dumping tax levels that the US Department of Commerce (DoC) had imposed on frozen tra fish fillets imported from Viet Nam.
Following the DoC's final decision for the August 1, 2010 – July 31, 2011 period, Vietnamese tra exporters will have to pay much higher duties from at least US$0.19 to $0.77-3.87 per kilo.
Vinh Hoan Co, which had the highest export turnover to the US and previously enjoyed a tax exemption, has been levied $0.19 per kilo.
VASEP said it was very dissatisfied with the DoC's sudden move to replace Bangladesh — which shares many similarities with Viet Nam in breeding standards and input costs — and choose Indonesia as the sole benchmark country to calculate the anti-dumping rate. This led to "unreasonably-high" tax levels, it said.
The association urged the DoC to use Bangladesh as the benchmark for Vietnamese products again as it had done for eight consecutive years. In previous examination stages, the DoC even repeatedly objected to choosing Indonesia as this nation lacked adequate price and finance data.
In reality, Indonesia mainly imported frozen tra fillets from Viet Nam and didn't export tra fish to the world market, it noted.
The association said together with domestic tra enterprises, it would continue to carry out necessary measures to protect the tra industry through legal activities and ask the DoC to correct its decision in accordance with US laws as well as WTO agreements.
vietnamnews
