Tra fish is moved for processing at Can Tho-based Bien Dong Seafood Co. — VNA/VNS Photo Duy Khuong

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the preliminary findings on its administrative review for anti-dumping duties on tra fish fillets imported from Viet Nam.

According to the US-based Viet Nam Trade Office, as per its administrative review (POR 10), the DOC has decided to impose anti-dumping duties from zero to US$2.39 per kilo on Vietnamese tra fish fillets imported to the US between August 2012 and July 2013.

The Viet Nam Trade Office said, according to the DOC's preliminary decision, Vinh Hoan JSC – one of the leading local tra fish exporters to the US, who was under investigation and taken off the list of Vietnamese tra fish exporters, enjoyed a zero tax rate, reported the Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) online.

Meanwhile, duties on Hung Vuong Corporation, one of the large tra fish exporters to the US and 23 other companies were revised from $1.2 to $0.58 per kilo.

AnviFish was charged duty at the highest rate of $2.39 per kilo as it did not supply specific timely information to the DOC.

However, the Trade Office said the duties were unreasonable, as the DOC continued using Indonesian rates as the sole benchmark while calculating the anti-dumping rate.

The new duties will, however, not take effect until the final decision is made. Relevant parties will have 120 days to reply before a final decision is taken.

According to Viet Nam's General Department of Customs, export value of tra fish to the US in the first five months, showed a year-on-year drop of 26 per cent to $126.6 million.

During the first five months, Viet Nam's total export value of tra fish saw a year-on-year decline of 3.8 per cent.

Two key tra fish export markets of Viet Nam, the US and the EU, which accounted for 39.3 per cent of the total export value, saw a reduction in export values over the past few months, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

The association expected the exports of Vietnamese tra fish to the two markets to recover by the end of this year.

Other key export markets for Vietnamese tra fish, such as Brazil, Mexico, China and Hong Kong continued to grow, along with Colombia and Saudi Arabia. — VNS