Vietnamese shrimp exporters are expected to benefit from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announcement Monday, 18 July that it will resolve some longstanding disputes over shrimp exported to the United States.
The new agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam also provides a framework for the settlement of antidumping litigation, as well as the resolution of certain outstanding duty claims covering administrative reviews of the warmwater shrimp antidumping duty order.
As a result of the agreement, Minh Phu Group, a Vietnamese exporter of frozen warmwater shrimp, will no longer be subject to the antidumping duty order, litigation against the company is resolved and the U.S. will refund duties to Minh Phu Group, the Commerce Department said in a press release.
"I am pleased that we have resolved this challenging matter in a way that is agreeable to the parties and that preserves our ability to effectively remedy unfair trade, providing U.S. businesses and workers the opportunity to compete on a level playing field," said Paul Piquado, assistant secretary of commerce for enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
However, the antidumping duty order will remain in place for all other exporters of warmwater shrimp from Vietnam, the Commerce Department said.
This follows the U.S. International Trade Commission’s June decision to (ITC) conduct full five-year reviews on frozen shrimp from Vietnam, Thailand, India, China and Brazil. The commission will now interview U.S. producers, importers and foreign exporters and hold a public hearing to determine whether imports of frozen shrimp from those five countries will likely lead to material injury to U.S. businesses or industry.
Last September, the Commerce Department significantly reduced antidumping duties on Vietnamese shrimp imports, to 0.91 percent, versus the 6.37 percent imposed following its previous review.
