The honey industry has suffered a lot due to the imposition of anti-dumping tax in the US. Now, there is a situation of fake honey (honey made from sugarcane) mixed with real honey. If this problem is not prevented in time by the authorities, it will create unpredictable consequences, even loss of the export market.
Vietnamese honey is still trusted by the EU and US markets.
At the online seminar “Disseminating and answering new regulations of the law on animal health medicine” on the afternoon of August 14, 2023, Mr. Dinh Quyet Tam, Chairman of the Vietnam Beekeeping Association, said that: The application of anti-dumping taxes on Vietnamese honey by the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has reduced honey exports to this market. In previous years, an average of 56 million liters of Vietnamese honey were exported to the US each year. However, in 2022, only 16 million liters of honey could be exported to this market.
LOSS OF MARKET SHARE IN THE US
In the first half of 2023, Vietnam only exported 09 million liters of honey to the US market. Vietnam has fallen to 7th place in terms of honey exports to the US compared to 2nd place in 2021. If in 2021, Vietnamese honey accounted for 6% of the total honey import of the US, by 2022, Vietnam only accounts for 3.6% of the US honey import.
The reason for the decline in Vietnam’s honey exports to the US is due to the impact of the anti-dumping taxes. In November 2021, the DOC announced the imposition of an anti-dumping tax of more than 400% on Vietnamese honey.
To impose an anti-dumping tax, the DOC based on the data of the US International Trade Commission: In 2021, the average export price of Vietnamese honey to the US reached 1,243 USD/ton, which was 422 USD/ton lower than India and 1,935 – 2,011 USD/ton lower than Argentina and Brazil’s honey.
The anti-dumping tax rate is four times higher than the export price of honey, which has caused honey exports to the US to be completely suspended from February to April 2022. During these months, there are no shipments of honey from Vietnam to the US.
Along with more thorough preparation from beekeepers, the honey production industry, exporters, and businesses expect to receive further tax reductions in the coming time. Businesses and the Vietnam Beekeeping Association are also making efforts to expand export markets, in particular, exploiting the benefits of Free trade agreements (FTAs).
Honey quality control is a vital requirement to keep the export market.
By April 2022, the DOC had strongly reduced the anti-dumping tax for Vietnamese enterprises, from 410.93% – 413.99% in the preliminary conclusion to 58.74% – 61.27%. Since the new tax was imposed, Vietnam’s honey has been exported back to the US market but still decreased by up to 70% in volume.
Over the past time, honey importers in the US have tried to diversify their supplies and reduce imports from some markets that are at risk of being subject to anti-dumping tax, which has caused the honey market share to be greatly reduced.
According to Mr. Dinh Quyet Tam, in previous years, the US market always accounted for 90% of Vietnam’s total honey exports, but by 2022, the US market only accounted for 45% of Vietnam’s honey exports.
Meanwhile, exports to the EU reached more than 10 million liters in 2022, accounting for 27-28%; exports to the UK reached more than 3.2 million liters, accounting for 9%; and exports to Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan accounted for 19%.
Currently, the Vietnam Beekeeping Association, relevant Ministries, sectors, and exporters continue to discuss with US agencies for the next stages (damage assessment, anti-dumping tax review, etc.) to support Vietnam’s honey industry to be treated fairly by the regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO)./.