Risk of competitiveness loss
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the US is a large, traditional market and has a leading position for world seafood, including Vietnam. Of which, 70% of export products are aquaculture products (shrimp, pangasius, other freshwater fish) which are associated with the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers in the localities.
Similarly, 30% of export products are from exploited seafood - the livelihood and source of life of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fishermen. The US is the number 1 import market (NK) for shrimp, tuna, and the number 2 market for Vietnamese pangasius.
According to VASEP's quick, preliminary and incomplete statistics in the morning of January 3, as soon as there was information about the US imposing a 46% high tax rate, there are currently about 37,000 tons of seafood of all kinds on the way to the US and about 31,500 tons of goods expected to be exported (exported) in April and May, many orders have been signed for this year - about 38,500 tons.
Although specific figures have been given, the lack of clarity in the current US tax policy leads to the possibility that if US customs calculate the tax based on the date of goods arrival (after September 9), the shipments being transported will be subject to a 46% tax rate.
This causes great damage because the enterprise has signed a contract under the DDP method (deposit delivery, Vietnamese enterprises must pay all transportation costs, insurance, taxes... before delivering and waiting for payment from US partners) at the price based on the current tax rate, usually 0% or 5.5-7% due to anti-dumping tax.
A 500,000-dollar shrimp batch, previously taxed at 5% ($25,000), can now be taxed at 46% ($230,000), an additional $205,000, a huge and unpredictable cost, said a VASEP representative.
In addition, the new tax rate puts the Vietnamese seafood industry at risk of losing market and competitiveness because other seafood exporting countries all have much lower tax rates than Vietnam (India 26%, Ecuador 10%, Indonesia 32%, Thailand 36% ...).
Statistics show that, with the expenditure of about 2 billion USD per year to import Vietnamese seafood, the US is holding the No. 1 market share, accounting for 1/5 of Vietnam's seafood export value in general.
Expectations for early negotiations with the US
Currently more than 400 Vietnamese enterprises (DN) are exporting and planning to export seafood to the US market with large and high -value orders. In the context of high competition and anti -dumping tax, the method of transporting fisheries is mainly DDP (delivery to the warehouse) when exporting to the US, meaning that Vietnamese enterprises must pay the entire cost (transportation, insurance, tax) before delivery and waiting for payment from US partners. Therefore, the new tax rate makes Vietnamese seafood enterprises bewildered about the possibility of losing this large market and even great damages with many shipments on the way to transport to the US may have a 46%high tax rate.
In the current emergency situation, VASEP expressed its hope that the Prime Minister and ministries and branches will soon negotiate with the US to agree on the time frame for applying new import taxes, and can adjust the tax reduction to the most suitable level.
VASEP expects the US Government not to apply 46% to all items, but to separate the tax rate applied to each item according to the list of exported goods to the US with the corresponding tax rate.
"In return, it is proposed that the Vietnamese Government proactively reduce import tax by 0% for US seafood entering Vietnam, paying special attention to products with limited import output such as shrimp and tuna" - VASEP recommended.
