CAN THO – Sugar imports from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Myanmar have declined since Vietnam took measures against trade remedy circumvention.

On August 1, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision 1514/QD-BCT imposing measures against trade remedy circumvention of the sugar imports from the five Southeast Asian countries.

Under the decision, Vietnam imposes antidumping and countervailing duties of 47.64% on sugar imports from the five countries if the sugar contains Thailand’s cane sugar. 

The decision caused a plunge in sugar imports from the five countries, acting general secretary of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association Nguyen Van Loc told The Saigon Times.

In September, Vietnam only imported under 40,000 tons of sugar from them, the lowest since early this year, a source told The Saigon Times.

According to the source, Vietnam imported 60,000 tons of sugar in August and nearly 100,000 tons in January and March from the countries.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that only six exporters from Laos, Indonesia and Myanmar did not circumvent the antidumping and countervailing duties, meaning they did not use Thai cane sugar for their products. Thus, they are entitled to a 5% tariff under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.