Sugarcane imported from Thailand slammed with 47.64 per cent tax for next five years

Sugarcane imported from Thailand is taxed 47.64 per cent for five years

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has issued Decision No.1578/QD-BCT applying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes at 47.64 per cent to a number of sugarcane products originating from Thailand in the next five years.

The imposition of tax is applied to organisations and individuals producing and exporting goods originating from Thailand with the official anti-dumping tax rate of 42.99 per cent, and the official anti-subsidy tax rate of 4.65 per cent. Totally, the two types of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax are 47.64 per cent.

"Anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax are additional import taxes applied to sugarcane imported from Thailand, including imports under tariff quotas," said the MoIT. The investigation process was carried out in accordance with the provisions of the World Trade Organization, the Law on Foreign Trade Management, and related regulations.

Compared with the temporary tax rate applied from February 2021 at 33.88 per cent, the final official tax rate is still lower than the initial investigation result of 48.88 per cent. It was alleged that sugarcane products imported from Thailand, including refined sugar and raw sugar, have been subsidised and dumped, causing heavy damage to the domestic sugarcane industry.

Under the impact of sugar imports from Thailand being dumped and subsidised, over the past time, a series of sugar factories have had to close, seriously impacting employees. According to data from the ministry, 3,300 workers lost their jobs and 93,225 households have been affected due to the difficulties of the domestic manufacturing industry.

The main reason for the situation is that the import of subsidised and dumped sugar from Thailand increased sharply in 2020, to nearly 1.3 million tonnes, up 330.4 per cent compared to 2019.