The DOC was asked to investigate frozen warmwater shrimp products with codes of HS 0306.17, 1605.21 and 1605.29 imported from Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Vietnam is included in the list as Vietnamese shrimp products have been subject to anti-dumping taxes by the US since 2004, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The authority said that the plaintiff requested the DOC to initiate an anti-subsidy investigation on both frozen and fresh shrimp from Vietnam and alleged that subsidy for fresh shrimp suppliers are considered as subsidy for frozen shrimp producers and exporters as fresh raw shrimp accounts for a large proportion of up to 95% of the value of frozen warmwater shrimp of Vietnam.

The subsidy investigation period is 2022 and the damage investigation period is from 2020 to the first half of 2023.

Data from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) showed that in 2022, Vietnam exported about 645 million USD worth of accused products to the US, making up about 10% of the total market share of shrimp exports to the US.

The DOC is expected to announce its decision to whether initiate the investigation or not on November 14.

In order to ensure the rights and interest of Vietnamese exporters, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam asked relevant agencies to inform businesses with accused products so that they can make preparations in case that the investigation is conducted.

It also advised producers and exporters to keep a close eye on the case by registering for an ACCESS account at the DOC trade remedies portal at https://access.trade.gov/login.aspx, while coordinating with the authority during the process of settling the case./.VNA