US levies anti-subsidy duties on Vietnamese shrimp                                    Local shrimp exporters are facing the risk of being imposed double taxation on the US market. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) on August 13 decided to levy anti-subsidy duties on frozen shrimp imported from Vietnam.   Under the Department’s latest decision, the two compulsory defendants - Minh Qui Seafood Co Ltd and Nha Trang Seafood JSC - will face anti-subsidy duties of 7.88% and 1.15%, respectively. Other Vietnamese businesses that export frozen shrimp to the US will be imposed a rate of 4.52%. The DOC asked the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits sent by Vietnamese shrimp exporters to the US as of June 4, 2013. The DOC’s final decision will be submitted to the International Trade Commission (ITC) for approval before being announced on September 26. If the ITC certifies that US businesses suffer property losses due to the Vietnamese government’s subsidy, the DOC will officially levy anti-subsidy duties on October 3, 2013. Otherwise, the DOC’s lawsuit against imported shrimp from Vietnam will come to an end when the ITC finds no property losses in US businesses. The DOC conducted an anti-subsidy investigation after the Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries (COGSI) petitioned against subsidy policies of several countries, including Vietnam.  The lawsuit is unreasonable and likely to create double taxation that will heavily affect more than 600,000 aquacultural farmers as well as seafood producers and exporters in Vietnam. Source: VOV