The move followed feedback to the department's fourth administrative review conducted between February 2008 and January 2009 of shrimp imported into the US by Nha Trang Seafood Joint Stock Company, Minh Phu Seafood Company, and Minh Hai Seafood Company.
Under the revised tariffs, the duty on shrimps imported by Nha Trang will be reduced from a maximum on 5.58 per cent to 4.89 per cent. Minh Phu will see a reduction of 0.01 per cent to 2.95 per cent, while the others will be subject to a duty of 3.92 per cent, reduced from the previous 4.27 per cent.
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Viet Nam urges US lower trade barriers
The US needs to minimise trade barriers and participate more actively in the multilateral trade system, said Ambassador Vu Dung, head of Viet Nam's delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international agencies in Geneva, at a session at WTO headquarters last week to review US trade policies.
Dung, leading a delegation of officials from the Vietnamese ministries of Foreign Affairs and Industry and Trade, voiced concerns over US trade barriers that have resulted in anti-dumping duties against frozen shrimp, tra (pangasius) fish, and plastic bags imported from Viet Nam.
Viet Nam expected the US to re-examine its imposition of anti-subsidy and anti-dumping tariffs before making decisions affecting other WTO members, Dung said.
The US became Viet Nam's leading export market in recent years, importing US$11.5 billion worth of goods in 2009 – a fifth of Viet Nam's total exports. |
The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) continued to complain, however, that Vietnamese companies were subject to higher duties than Indian exporters, which paid duties no higher than 4.44 per cent.
Last April, Viet Nam asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body to set up a panel to review US anti-dumping measures imposed on frozen warm-water shrimp from Viet Nam. WTO general director Pascal Lamy recently appointed three members to the panel.
After six months, the panel was expected to make a final report, clearing the way for further legal action between the parties. If it proceeds, this would constitute Viet Nam's first trade lawsuit against a WTO member.
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