The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) has sent feedback to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) urging the U.S. government to maintain Vietnam's status as a non-market economy in antidumping proceedings.
The appeal comes after the DOC, at the request of the Vietnamese government, on October 30 initiated a change of circumstance review to determine whether to reclassify Vietnam as a market economy.
Since Vietnam and the U.S. upgraded their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Hanoi has intensified its campaign for the U.S. to acknowledge its market economy status.
If the DOC grants Vietnam's request, the agency will have to use Vietnamese producers' own sales and cost data in antidumping calculations. It argues that Vietnamese costs and prices remain heavily distorted by government interventions.
“It is vital that we retain the right to treat Vietnam as a non-market economy so we can obtain meaningful relief from unfairly dumped shrimp in the U.S. market,” said Trey Pearson, president of ASPA.
“Prematurely granting Vietnam market economy status despite the widespread government distortions that persist would greatly undermine the value of the antidumping order our industry has worked so hard to obtain and maintain for almost 20 years,” Pearson added.
Vietnam was the fourth largest source of U.S. shrimp imports in 2022, with an import value of nearly $687 million, according to ASPA.
The U.S. is forecast to remain Vietnam's largest shrimp export market this year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.