Vietnamese shrimp firms weigh legal action over US duties

Vietnamese shrimp exporters are questioning US anti-dumping calculations after the US Department of Commerce completed its 20th administrative review. Vietnam Clean Seafood Corporation plans a court challenge, while Sao Ta Foods JSC is weighing whether to consult legal advisers.

Sao Ta chairman Ho Quoc Luc said the company's duty was lowered to 10.71 per cent from 10.76 per cent. Soc Trang Seafood JSC was assigned 6.36 per cent, compared with 6.30 per cent previously. The final rate for other eligible exporters was 7.59 per cent, putting Sao Ta's duty above those of the other companies covered by the announcement.

Luc disputed the surrogate values the department used for production inputs in its preliminary findings. He said its shrimp-feed valuation was more than 10 times the actual cost and distorted dumping margins. In his view, the marginal reduction failed to adequately resolve the company's objections.

Although Luc expects the duty to reduce Sao Ta's short-term competitiveness in the US, he said the company would remain in the market. It is considering legal advice on pursuing a challenge through US authorities.

Vietnam Clean Seafood Corporation's chairman and general director, Vo Van Phuc, said its rate increased to 7.59 per cent from 4.84 per cent. He argued that the department valued all feed using juvenile-shrimp feed prices, even though that category represented only around six per cent of total feed use.

Phuc said his company would contest the decision alongside other Vietnamese shrimp businesses at the US Court of International Trade. The review concerned frozen warmwater shrimp shipments made from February 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025.