DOC has nearly double the tariff applied on tra fish exported from Viet Nam. — Photo VASEP

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Viet Nam Tra Fish Association issued a press release on January 27 protesting against the actions of the United States Department of Commerce (DOC).

The association said the findings of the U.S. DOC's 10th Period of Review of tra and basa fish exported to the United States would hurt Vietnamese enterprises and reiterated that Vietnamese firms had not reduced the price of fillet of tra and basa fish exported to the country.

According to the results of DOC's 10th POR released on January 17, the names of enterprises exporting products to the United States between August 1, 2012 and August 1, 2013 will be included in the DOC's list and subjected to an additional tax of US$0.97 per kilo.

The revised rate will be applicable to 24 Vietnamese tra fish exporters, and is nearly double the earlier charge of $0.58 fixed in July 2014.

Meanwhile, the general tax imposed on tra and basa exporters has been excluded from the list and has remained stable at $2.39 per kilo.

The Viet Nam Tra Fish Association argued that the competitive prices of tra fish exported from Viet Nam were a result of Vietnamese enterprises establishing a production chain from raising and processing to exporting, which had minimized their production costs.

The association also insisted that the DOC's decision to select Indonesia as a surrogate country to calculate and impose the anti-dumping rate on Vietnamese fish products is unfair to Vietnamese enterprises and affects the whole industry.

It also pointed out that Indonesia's economy is more developed than Viet Nam's, and therefore, the way Indonesian businesses raise and process fish is different from Vietnamese enterprises.

For many years, Viet Nam's tra and basa fillet exports to the U.S. market have faced high tariffs. In reality, this has negatively impacted the lives of workers in the industry. The action also runs counter to the trend of comprehensive cooperation that the two governments have been promoting, the association concluded. — VNS