DOC requested to conduct anti-subsidy probe into VN’s frozen warmwater shrimp
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued the final affirmative countervailing duty determination on frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam.
The DOC has determined a duty of 2.84% on products from Soc Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company (STAPIMEX), which was the sole mandatory defendant, and a duty of 221.82% – the rate based on adverse facts available (AFA) – for Thong Thuan Company Limited, which refused to participate in the case. The DOC assigned the same rate for STAPIMEX as for all other producers and exporters.
The Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam said that the final anti-subsidy duty rate is basically unchanged from the preliminary rate, except for in Thong Thuan's case.
Among countries under investigation, duty rates on Vietnam are lower than those on India and Ecuador, a very encouraging result for Vietnam’s shrimp production and export.
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) will issue the final decision about damages within 45 days from October 21, when the DOC issued the final determination. Only if the USITC concludes that the US shrimp industry has suffered injury due to subsidised frozen warmwater shrimp imported from Vietnam will the tax order be officially issued.
From the beginning of the case, the DOC investigated 40 programmes and policies of the Vietnamese Government belonging to the following groups: loans and guarantees, corporate income tax incentives, receivables exemptions, land incentives and funding.
Notably, the DOC investigated a series of programmes under the strategy for development of Vietnam’s fisheries by 2030.
The DOC determined that 26 out of 50 programmes were countervailing subsidy programmes and 10 were non-countervailing subsidy programmes. The DOC has not yet made a final decision on five programmes.
Previously, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers said that the DOC in March announced initial countervailing duties on warmwater shrimp from Vietnam, India and Ecuador with rates ranging from 1.69% to 196%.
India, Ecuador, Indonesia and Vietnam are the four largest shrimp exporters to the US, accounting for around 90% of the country's 788,200 tonnes of shrimp imports in 2023.
