Vietnam’s leading shrimp company, Minh Phu, said Monday, 20 January, it has ceased from importing shrimp from India.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week commenced a formal investigation to determine whether Minh Phu and its subsidiaries have evaded the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from India through its imports of shrimp into the U.S. The investigation followed allegations submitted by the Ad Hoc Shrimp Trade Enforcement Committee (AHSTEC), a plaintiff in several Vietnamese antidumping lawsuits.
According to CBP, data showed Minh Phu imported large volumes of frozen shrimp from India between 1 October, 2018, and 31 August, 2019.
In a statement, Minh Phu said the CBP accusation is baseless because its own data indicated that the import volumes from India only accounted for about 10 percent of Minh Phu’s total material input during the period.
Notably, the company has reduced material imports significantly since the beginning of last year.
“In particular, Minh Phu has no longer imported material shrimp from India since the second quarter of 2019,” it said.
The allegations against Minh Phu began when U.S. Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL) in a letter on 17 May last year requested CBP launch an investigation into allegations Minh Phu was possibly evading U.S. anti-dumping duties on shrimp from India. The letter alleged that Minh Phu purchased a large amount of frozen shrimp from India, processed it at a “minimum" level in Vietnam, and then went on to sell them through a subsidiary to the U.S., MSeafood, as a Vietnamese product.
Minh Phu said Monday it had already provided data for CBP for consideration following LaHood’s allegations.
Regarding the latest allegations received by CBP in September last year, Minh Phu has not had any chance to provide data for CBP, the company said, but added it will fully cooperate with CBP’s investigation. Minh Phu’s lawyers in the U.S. have registered to CBP to be permitted to take part in the investigation. They will provide evidence for CBP to consider before the U.S. agency makes its final decision.
The U.S. remained the biggest market for shrimp from Minh Phu last year. The company exported shrimp worth USD 245.9 million (EUR 220.7 million) to the U.S. in 2019, down 19.6 percent from 2018.
Photo courtesy of Minh Phu
