US postpones announcing anti-dumping tax on Vietnam's shrimp

Hanoi (VNA) - The US has delayed an announcement of the results of its third administrative review on Vietnam's shrimp exported to the US until March 2, 2009 instead of October 31 this year as originally scheduled, said the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

The delay was announced by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) in a notice
run in the Federal Register newspaper. The review was conducted on
Vietnam 's shrimp batches exported to the US between February 1, 2007
and January 31, 2008.

The DOC said that completing the review as originally scheduled is
unfeasible due to the complexity of the process. The final decision will be
made within 120 days of the announcement of the preliminary results.

On September 9, the DOC announced the second administrative review on frozen
warm-water shrimp imported from Vietnam in the period from February 1,
2006 to January 31, 2007. Accordingly, four Vietnamese enterprises were
exempted from US anti-dumping duties, including Minh Phat Seafood Co. Ltd,
Ca Mau Frozen Seafood Processing Import Export Corporation (Camimex),
Grobest & I-Mei Industry Vietnam and Viet Hai Seafood Co. Ltd.

The final decision also stated that 23 companies would bear a tax rate of
4.57%, one will be subject to 4.3% and the remaining two companies, 25.76%.

According to the VASEP General Secretary, Truong Dinh Hoe, the decision was
a surprise to Vietnamese seafood producers and exporters because the results
of the second administrative review were far below expectations and resulted
in Vietnamese shrimp being less competitive.

Although expecting difficulties, VASEP said that the final decision by DOC
will not keep US importers away from Vietnamese products. Vietnam 's total
shrimp export turnover to the US is expected to reach 850 million USD by
the end of this year.-Enditem