DOC needs to apply more appropriate tax rates to Vietnamese honey

In the first 9 months of 2022, honey exports reached about 41 million USD. Due to high tax rates, Vietnam's honey exports are struggling.

Dropped from first to fourth place

The Department of Livestock Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) cited a report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) saying that in 2020, the total amount of honey exported from Vietnam to the US market reached over 50,000 tons, accounting for 26%, ranking first among countries exporting honey to this market.

Honey exports to the US market have decreased sharply.

In 2021, Vietnam exported 56,000 tons of honey to the United States, accounting for over 25% of the total honey imported into the United States, second only to India.

However, due to anti-dumping taxes, in 2022, the total volume of honey exported to the US market will be only over 14,000 tons, accounting for 7%, ranking fourth among countries exporting to the US.

In the first 6 months of 2023, Vietnam exported more than 5,500 tons of various types of honey to the United States, reaching an export turnover of nearly 11.5 million USD, with a selling price of more than 2 USD/kg (honey sold by the bag).

Thus, after the US imposed an average anti-dumping tax of 60%, in the first 6 months of 2023, Vietnam's honey export output to this market decreased by more than 50% compared to the same period in 2022.

Proposing DOC to apply more appropriate tax rates on Vietnamese honey

According to the report of the Vietnam Beekeeping Association, in 2021, Vietnam had 1.7 million bee colonies, producing over 71,000 tons of various types of honey and other products such as pollen, wax, royal jelly, and propolis.

During the period 2018 - 2022, honey production increased steadily every year, from 49,000 tons in 2018 to 71,000 tons in 2021, but in 2022 it decreased to only nearly 44,000 tons due to the impact of anti-dumping tax applied by the United States to Vietnam from the end of 2021.

In 2019, Vietnam's honey exports reached more than 47 million USD; this figure increased to 71 million USD in 2020; 90 million USD in 2021 and 48.5 million USD in 2022.

Vietnam's main honey export markets include the United States, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Canada. Of which, honey exports to the United States account for over 90% of Vietnam's total honey export turnover.

According to Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh - Deputy Director of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Vietnamese honey exported to the US market is mainly raw honey for processing in the confectionery, beverage, and canned food industries.

In 2019, Vietnamese honey accounted for the leading proportion in the United States. On average, Vietnam exports over 50,000 tons of honey to this country each year.

Faced with the situation of Vietnam's honey exports to the United States increasing at low prices, the American Honey Producers Association filed a lawsuit with the US Department of Commerce (DOC), claiming that Vietnam was dumping honey products into the US market. The average anti-dumping tax rate that DOC applied to Vietnamese honey businesses is 60%.

Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh said that this is an unfair tax rate for Vietnamese honey exported to the United States. With this tax rate, the administrative review and fight will continue.

In the coming time, units in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, especially the Department of International Cooperation, the Department of Livestock Production and the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development will closely coordinate with functional units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States to continue providing information, quantity, exchange and explanation.

These moves will help DOC better understand the origin of Vietnamese honey production in the first administrative assessment, expected to be completed in June 2024, thereby proposing that DOC apply a more appropriate tax rate to Vietnamese honey.

Mr. Tong Xuan Chinh said that this expectation is completely reasonable because Vietnamese honey for export is mainly taken from the leaf axils of acacia trees (total area of over 2.2 million hectares) and rubber trees (over 930,000 hectares). This is a very important basis showing that Vietnamese honey does not compete with honey taken from flowers of US producers.

Vietnam has a large bee industry with over 1.7 million bee colonies. Vietnam's competitive honey export price is due to the advantage of honey trees from planted forests, seasonal weather allowing harvest time up to 7-8 months/year, good bee breeds and techniques so the quality is guaranteed to meet the tastes of the US food processing industry segment.

The American people have trusted and supported Vietnamese honey continuously for the past 30 years. Exporting honey to the United States not only helps Vietnam export its products, but also helps American consumers and processors gain good profits from cheap natural honey sources.

Therefore, the DOC's imposition of anti-dumping tax will seriously affect not only the production and lives of Vietnamese farmers, but also greatly affect the US processing and consumer segments and the biodiversity of natural flora and agricultural crop systems.

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