The US has been the largest customer of Vietnamese honey, representing about 95 percent of total honey exports. However, in late 2021, the US DOC issued preliminary conclusions on anti-dumping investigations into Vietnam honey and imposed anti-dumping duties of 410.93-413.99 percent on Vietnam's honey products.

Vietnamese honey exporters were shocked by the sky-high anti-dumping duties. Honey exports then stalled.

Later, the anti-dumping duties applied to Vietnam companies fell to 58.74-61.27 percent.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), two agencies in the US are engaged in the anti-dumping investigation: the Department of Commerce (DOC) (they set anti-dumping duties) and the US International Trade Commission ITC (they identify damages caused to US honey production). 

Anti-dumping measures will officially take effect after the final conclusions about dumping and the damages to domestic production.

DOC has released an official statement about the imposition of anti-dumping duties on bee honey imported from Vietnam.

The anti-dumping duties are equal to the dumping margins of Vietnamese enterprises, from 58.74 percent to 61.27 percent, which will be applied to consignments of honey imported to the US beginning on August 25, 2022.

The average duty imposition duration will be five years and DOC may conduct an administrative review every year.

However, in early July 2022, the plaintiffs of the case – the US Honey Producers Association and Sioux Honey Association – filed a notice of appeal to the US Court of International Trade (CIT) about the DOC’s final conclusion about Vietnam’s honey.

If the plaintiffs win the case, the CIT’s judgment (the competent court in this case is CIT) may affect the DOC’s decision on an anti-dumping duty on Vietnam’s honey.

Dinh Quyet Tam, chair of the Vietnam Beekeepers Association (VBA), told VietNamNet that if the plaintiffs appeal, the anti-dumping duties would be reconsidered. However, he predicted that the duties would remain at 58.74-61.27 percent.

However, with the duties, Vietnam honey will be at a disadvantage when competing with products exported to the US from many countries. 

The anti-dumping duty the US is imposing on Indian products is only 5.85 percent, while the tax rate on Vietnam’s products is 10 times higher.

“With such sky-high duties, Vietnam’s products won’t be able to compete with honey products from India in the US market,” he said.

In 2001, the US also imposed a tax of 245 percent on honey products from China. As a result, Chinese businesses had to give up the market, though at that time, China led in honey exports to the US.

Farmers scale down production

According to ITC, after three months of not being able to export honey to the US (from February to April 2022), Vietnam’s businesses resumed exports in May. 

In Q1, Vietnam’s honey exports to the US dropped by nearly 90 percent compared with the same period last year, from 10,532 tons to 1,145 tons. 

This was the smallest amount of honey that Vietnam had ever exported to the US over the last 10 years.

According to Tam, Vietnam’s honey is exported to 12 countries and territories. There are nearly 40,000 households raising bees.

The honey output of the country is 57,000 tons a year, of which 90 percent is exported. 

The export turnover is $70-100 million a year. Honey exports to the US account for 95 percent of Vietnam’s total honey exports.

The anti-dumping imposition has affected Vietnam’s honey industry. Exports to the US have been proceeding at a moderate level. Bee-raising households in Vietnam have reduced their production scale.

According to Huynh Thi Ngoc, the owner of a bee raising facility in Xuan Loc, in Dong Nai, which has been operating for 20 years, exports have never been this difficult. Many large exporters in the province have had to reduce their operation scale, or shut down.

According to a representative of VBA, Vietnam last year exported 56,000 tons of honey to the US. The stop of trade since last October has caused shortages in the US market and pushed honey prices up.

“I have heard that the US is lacking a large amount of honey for domestic consumption. I hope the US reconsiders the anti-dumping duties,” he said.

Tam An