Minh Phu's U.S.-based subsidiary MSeafood will receive a refund on millions of dollars in antidumping duties it paid to the U.S. after winning a legal dispute earlier this year.
MSeafood has received a refund of VND 336 billion (USD 14.7 million, EUR 12.5 million) on the duty it paid to the U.S., Minh Phu CEO Le Van Quang confirmed to SeafoodSource on 18 August.
The refund came as a surprise as Minh Phu forecasted in June that the company might not receive it this year due to a lawsuit filed by the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee (AHSTEC), a coalition of U.S. shrimp industry members and commercial fishing industry organizations.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in February reversed its previous determination and concluded that MSeafood has not illegally evaded the country’s antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India.
CBP’s Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate (TRLED) initiated the investigation on 9 October, 2019, under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA), following an allegation submitted by the AHSTEC.
In its affirmative determination released on 13 October last year, TRLED said it found “substantial evidence” Minh Phu Seafood had imported shrimp from India, processed at its production facilities in Vietnam, and exported it to the U.S.
After CBP announced the final decision, the AHSTEC in March 2021 filed the lawsuit to challenge the conclusion.
Minh Phu earned VND 3.29 trillion (USD 143.9 million, EUR 122.5 million) of sales revenue in the second quarter of 2021, up 20 percent over its Q2 2020 figures. Its net profit in Q2 2021 was VND 250 billion (USD 10.9 million, EUR 9.3 million), up 42 percent year-on-year.
The company’s sales revenue reached VND 6.1 trillion (USD 266.8, EUR 227.2 million) in the first half of 2021, 9 percent higher year-on-year. Its net profit in the period also surged 19 percent year-on-year to VND 276 billion (USD 12.1 million, EUR 10.3 million).
Photo courtesy of Minh Phu
