While Vietnam’s exports of shrimp rose globally in the first seven months of 2017, it is not shipping as much shrimp to the United States, primarily due to an increase in duties.
The U.S. was the top export market for Vietnam's shrimp in 2016, but it is now ranked fourth, behind Japan, the European Union and China, according to a new Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) report.
VASEP said an increase in U.S. anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese shrimp is to blame for the decline. When comparing America’s anti-dumping tariffs between Vietnam, India and Thailand, Vietnam has the highest duties, Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of VASEP, told the Saigon Times.
Vietnam's shrimp exports soared 18.5 percent to USD 1.9 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) in the first seven months of 2017. Japan is now the top buyer of Vietnamese shrimp, purchasing USD 383.8 million (EUR 321 million) so far this year, while the EU imported USD 380.6 million (EUR 319 million) worth of shrimp, and China imported USD 348.4 million (EUR 292 million) worth of the species.
While U.S. shrimp imports dropped 5.5 percent to USD 344.7 million (EUR 289 million), Hoe said he is not concerned. The difference in shrimp exports between the U.S. and Japan is not significant, Hoe said.
