Challenges for Vietnamese shrimp exports to the U.S (10-04-2018)
In 2017, U.S ranked fourth in importing shrimp from Viet Nam, accounting for 17 per cent of Viet Nam’s total shrimp export. Due to the fact that India boosted its shrimp export to the U.S, Viet Nam’s shrimp export to this market saw a decline in 2017.
Since early 2018, Viet Nam’s shrimp export to the U.S saw a positive sign. Shrimp export to the market in the first month of this year increased by 12 per cent compared to the same period last year. This brought the figure in the first two months of this year to US $ 75 million, increasing by 6.6 per cent compared to the same period last year. This made U.S surpass EU to become the second largest importer of Viet Nam’s shrimp.
According to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S’s shrimp import in 2017 saw a positive growth rate both in terms of volume and value.
In 2018, U.S’s shrimp import remained a stable growth. In January 2018, shrimp import into the U.S reached 61,716 tons, valued at US $ 593.2 million, increasing by 20 per cent in terms of volume and 22 per cent in terms of value.
Frozen whole shrimp (HS0306170040) was most favored by the U.S’s consumers. Imports of this item in the first month of this year increased by 35 per cent in terms of volume and 37 per cent in terms of value compared to the same period last year.
India was the largest shrimp supplier to the U.S, accounting for 34 per cent of U.S’s total shrimp import. This was followed by Indonesia and Thailand with the market share of 20 per cent and 10.3 per cent, respectively. Viet Nam ranked fourth, accounting for 8 per cent of the U.S’s total shrimp imports.
Among 5 biggest shrimp suppliers to the U.S market, U.S’s shrimp import from India recorded the strongest growth rate of 49 per cent in terms of volume and 53 per cent in terms of value. Since 2017 shrimp imports from India saw a consecutive increase. In the U.S market, India had more advantages than other suppliers since antidumping tax imposed on Indian shrimp was lower than that of Viet Nam’s and Thailand’s shrimp.
Although the U.S was the main export market of Viet Nam’s shrimp, in the coming time, Viet Nam’s shrimp export to the U.S would face many challenges such as technical and trade barriers. On March 8th 2018, the U.S’s Department of Commerce announced the primary result of the 12th POR12 (from February 1st 2016 to January 31st 2017) on antidumping imposed on Vietnamese shrimp. Accordingly, this antidumping tax rate is much higher than that of the previous result which would generate obstruction for Vietnamese shrimp exporters when exporting shrimp to this market like reducing competition capacity.
In addition, recently, President Donald Trump have signed Budget Law for Fiscal Year 2018, valued at US $ 1.3 billion. Under this law, the National Marine Fisheries Service would apply Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to shrimp and abalone. Accordingly, shrimp imported into the U.S will comply with new regulation on traceability information. Until SIMP takes effect, Viet Nam’s shrimp exporters should ensure the shrimp quality and focus on recording all traceability information to maintain their shrimp export to this market.
Giáng Hương