Thai sugar is applied anti-dumping duties and countervailing duty by nearly 34%

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The Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to temporarily collect anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty for raw sugar originating from Thailand at 33.88%.

This tax rate will be regularly reviewed to ensure a fair competitive environment if there is a strong shift from importing refined sugar and white sugar to importing raw sugar to avoid higher levels of anti-dumping and countervailing duty.

To make the final conclusion about the case, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to work with stakeholders, verify data and hold a public consultation session so all parties can have the opportunity to express their opinions while assessing the impact of the case on stakeholders.

The case is expected to finish the investigation in the second quarter of this year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade started to investigate the case on September 21, 2020 on the basis of the results of assessing dossier requesting for applying anti-dumping, countervailing duty of representatives of the domestic manufacturing industry.

After nearly five months conducting the investigation in accordance with the provisions of the World Trade Organization, the Foreign Trade Management Law and related regulations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade carefully considered and assessed the damage of the domestic manufacturing industry, the level of dumping and subsidies of Thai sugar producers and exporters as well as the calculation of impacts on downstream production industries and consumers.

The survey results showed the domestic cane sugar industry has suffered heavy losses in recent times. A series of sugar factories were closed, causing serious impacts on employment.

According to calculations, 3,300 workers lost their jobs and 93,225 farming households were affected due to difficulties in domestic production. The main reason for the above situation is sugar imported from Thailand was subsidised and dumped increased significantly in 2020, up to nearly 1.3 million tonnes, up 330.4% compared to 2019.

The survey results showed sugarcane products imported from Thailand, including refined sugar and raw sugar, were subsidised, dumped at 48.88%. Therefore, the temporary anti-dumping duty rate for cane sugar products imported from Thailand is 48.88%.

However, after considering the socio-economic impacts in accordance with the Law on Foreign Trade Management, to ensure harmony between the interests of farmers, the domestic sugar production and processing industry (including conditions of raw materials for production), consumers; based on information collected and calculated during the investigation, opinions of state management agencies as well as other parties, the Ministry of Industry and Trade decided to temporarily collect anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty for raw sugar originating from Thailand at 33.88%.