Vietnam shrimp exports to the US grew by 12%

In 2017, the U.S lost its leading position as the higher anti-dumping tax in POR11. In addition, India boosted shrimp exports to the U.S to offset the decline in other major markets, which reduced the market share of Vietnamese shrimp in the U.S market in 2017.

In 2018, Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S showed more positive signs. Shrimp exports to this market in the first month of 2018 grew by 12% over the same period in 2017. In the first two months of 2018, shrimp exports to the U.S reached US$75 million, up 6.6% over the same period in 2017. This time, the U.S had risen to the second rank behind the EU in top shrimp importers of Vietnam.

According to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, shrimp imports into the U.S in 2017 grew well in both volume and value.

In 2018, shrimp imports into the contry still remain the stable growth. In January, shrimp imports into the market reached 61,716 MT, valued at US$593.2 million, up 20% in volume and 22% in value.

The demand for shirmp in the U.S expected to keep stable thanks to good domestic consumption, high consumer confidence and positive economic outlook.

Imports of frozen raw shrimp meat (HS code 0306170040) took the largest share into the U.S. Imports of this item in January 2018 grew by 35% and 37% respectively in volume and value over the same period in 2017.

India is the largest supplier of shrimp to the U.S, accounting for 34% of total shrimp imports into the U.S. Indonesia and Thailand ranked the second and the third with 20% and 10.3% respectively. Vietnam ranked the fourth with the market share of 8%.

The market share of Indian shrimp in the US market from early 2017 to now continuously increased. In 2017, India had difficulties in the EU market; therefore, it focused on promoting exports to the U.S. In the U.S market, India has more advantages than other suppliers such as the lowest antidumping duty rates compared to Vietnam and Thailand. Indian shrimp production cost is lower than Vietnam, so the export price to the U.S is also lower than Vietnam. These are the main factors to improve the competitiveness of Indian shrimp in the U.S market.

Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the U.S in the coming time are expected to face many challenges. On 8th March 2018, the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the preliminary results of anti-dumping duties on Vietnam shrimp during the 12th administrative review period - POR12 (from 1st Feb 2016 to 31st Jan 2017). This tax is too high compared to the previous announcement. VASEP and companies believe that DOC has made a mistake in the calculation of margin and is considering to carry out the necessary legal procedures to appeal to the United States Court of International Trade as soon as possible.

Recently, the U.S President Donald Trump signed a US$1.3 trillion spending bill for 2018. Under a clause in this bill, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will have 9 months to implement the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) for shrimp and abalone. Accordingly, shrimp imports into the US. will have to comply with the new regulations on record keeping.