HANOI: Vietnam has imposed anti-dumping penalties between 25.73% and 32.75% on sugar products imported from some of Thailand’s biggest sugar producers for a period of nearly three years, the country’s trade ministry said on Tuesday.
The decision was made after a “careful and fair investigation” of allegations of anti-competitive behaviour, the ministry said in a statement. The penalties will be in place from Aug 18 until June 15, 2026.
An anti-dumping tax of 32.75% will be applied to Asia’s biggest sugar and bioenergy producer, Mitr Phol Sugar, and four associated companies, the ministry said.
Thai Roong Ruang Industry and its five affiliates will face an anti-dumping tax of 25.73% and an anti-subsidy tax of 4.65%, the statement added.
Last year, Hanoi imposed an anti-dumping levy of 47.64% on some sugar products imported from five Southeast Asian countries but originating from Thailand for a period of four years.
Vietnamese sugar producers had complained to the government that to get around earlier anti-dumping measures, some sugar products originating from Thailand were being imported via Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.
“In the case of products imported from those countries, if there is sufficient proof of being produced and harvested in their own countries, anti-dumping tax measures will not be applied,” Hanoi said at the time.
Vietnam removed duties on sugar imported from Southeast Asian countries in 2020, in accordance with the commitments of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement.
However, provisions allow Asean members to impose import duties to protect the rights and interests of domestic industries against anti-competitive behaviour.