VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TRAN MINH NGUYET US NON-TARIFF BARRIERS TO VIETNAMESE SEAFOOD EXPORT Major: International Economics Code: 93 10
Trang 1VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
TRAN MINH NGUYET
US NON-TARIFF BARRIERS
TO VIETNAMESE SEAFOOD EXPORT
Major: International Economics
Code: 93 10 106
DISSERTATION SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMICS
HANOI - 2020
Trang 2The work was completed at: Graduate Academy of Social Sciences
- Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
Scientific instructors: 1 Assoc Prof Dr Chu Duc Dung
2 Dr Nguyen Quoc Toan
Reviewer 1: Assoc Prof Dr Bui Tat Thang
Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof Dr Ha Van Hoi
Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof Dr Ngo Thi Tuyet Mai
The dissertation will be defended in front of the Academy-level Judging Council meeting at ……
at ……… …… hours ………… minutes, date ……… month
……… year ………
The dissertation can be found at the library:
- Library of Graduate Academy of Social Sciences
- Vietnam National Library
Trang 3PREFACE
1 The urgency of the topic
The study of non-tariff barriers has never become as urgent as the globalization and regionalization process has become increasingly powerful According to WTO regulations, countries must not impose too much tax on imported goods, therefore, all countries, both developed and developing, are actively applying non-tariff measures
to replace measures customs legislation to protect domestic production One of Vietnam's major export industries, which is heavily affected by these non-tariff barriers, is the fisheries sector The United States is considered as one of the key markets for Vietnam's export-import products because it is a densely populated market with diverse tastes and great annual consumer demand for seafood In recent years, the United States has maintained its position
as the leading import market of Vietnam, accounting for about 20%
of the total export value of this item However, in recent years, Vietnam's tra and shrimp products have not been subject to antidumping duty and anti-subsidy from the United States In the coming time with the protectionist policy of President Trump, the United States will not hesitate to increase administrative measures, discrimination, sanctions or stricter technical standards to prevent imports when their domestic production is threatened These issues have been causing a lot of difficulties and economic losses for exporting enterprises and affecting the strategic goals of Vietnam's fisheries development In this context, a comprehensive study of non-tariff barriers to provide scientific justification for negotiations, requires US partners to open markets and find appropriate measures
to overcome The barriers, thereby boosting Vietnam's seafood exports, are a truly necessary work both in theory and practice today
2 The research purpose of the dissertation
Research and clarify scientific and practical arguments on the non-tariff barriers of the United States to Vietnam's export Since then, we have proposed a number of solutions to deal with NTBs in order to boost Vietnam's export to the US market
Trang 43 Object and scope of the dissertation
Research subjects Study non-tariff barriers that the United States is applying to Vietnam's export and import goods Research scope - Regarding the scope of time: the thesis will focus mainly on the period from 2002 to 2018 - Regarding the spatial scope: Researching NTBs of the United States on Vietnam's export-import goods
Regarding the content scope:
+ The thesis will focus on the system of non-tariff barriers for two (02) key export and export product groups of Vietnam in the US market, namely shrimp and catfish
+ The dissertation will focus on (02) groups: technical barriers and anti-dumping barriers
4 Research questions and hypotheses
In summary, the dissertation addresses the following research questions:
(1) In the period of 2002 - 2018, what were the most frequent and most difficult non-tariff measures faced by Vietnamese seafood enterprises in the US market?
(2) How does the US non-tariff barrier affect Vietnam's seafood exports?
(3) How did Vietnam's export businesses respond to the impact of non-tariff barriers of the United States? What role does the state and association have in responding to these barriers? (4) What are the reasons that limit Vietnam's ability to respond to US non-tariff barriers?
These questions are answered on the basis of hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 is: In the period of 2002 - 2018, Vietnamese seafood exporters often face technical barriers (SPS, TBT) and temporary barriers of the United States
Hypothesis 2 is: The US non-tariff barriers increase the adaptive costs of exporting enterprises
Hypothesis 3 is: Seafood exporters have had flexible measures
to respond to the impacts of US non-tariff barriers
Hypothesis 4 is: The response measures of the Vietnamese government, associations and export enterprises have brought certain
Trang 5results, but there are still limitations due to the impact of many different causes objective and subjective, both internal and external
In particular, the main cause comes from the subjective factors related to the internal capacity of enterprises and the State's policy environment
5 The methodology and research methods of the dissertation
Methodology: The dissertation uses a system of points of view leading the research of NTBs including:
Dialectical materialist opinion
System perspective
Historical perspective
The method of data collection
The dissertation uses secondary data collection method based
on Vietnamese and US databases and statistics on the theoretical basis of NTBs, market situation, seafood import-export turnover, US NTBs regulations
6 New contributions to the science of the dissertation
Firstly, the dissertation has systematized and clarified some
theoretical issues about NTBs in international trade and NTBs of the U.S for seafood products, explained the concept of NTBs and makes
clear my opinion on the use of NTBs classification to seafood export
Secondly, provide a new approach on the impact of technical
barriers on both positive and negative aspects to the exporting industry and countries From there, draw conclusions that technical barriers has a positive impact on manufacturing groups and developed countries For underdeveloped economies (such as
Trang 6Vietnam) and in non-productive sectors (particularly fisheries), the positive impact is less or vulnerable to these measures
Thirdly, proposing a model for authentication of factors
affecting the ability to cope with NTBs for export goods
Fourthly, the dissertation analyzed the current export situation
and the situation of using NTBs of the United States for Vietnam's export goods in a new context with its own object and scope of research Focusing on two types of barriers: (1) The US anti-dumping (antidumping) to Vietnamese pangasius and shrimp from 2002 to 2018; (2) New technical barriers in the US market recently such as: USDA catfish inspection program, NOAA's Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP)
Fifthly, based on the goals of the seafood industry
development strategy to 2025, vision to 2030, the trend of developing NTBs in the US market for Vietnamese seafood products, and assessments on the current situation dealing with NTBs for Vietnam's export-import goods recently, the thesis has developed and proposed
a number of measures to improve the ability of coping with NTBs of the State and the business community to increase export turnover and improve Vietnam's export efficiency to the US market in the coming time
7 Theoretical and practical meanings of the dissertation
The dissertation is a scientific work with theoretical and practical significance, is a document that helps the State research and management agencies and aquaculture enterprises to develop development plans, make rational decisions to improve High ability
to cope with NTBs in the near future
8 The structure of the dissertation
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, List of References and Appendix, the main content of the dissertation is presented in 4 chapters as follows:
Chapter 1: Overview of research situation and issues related to the dissertation topic
Chapter 2: Rationale and practice of US non-tariff barriers to fishery products
Trang 7Chapter 3: The situation of the US non-tariff barriers to Vietnam's seafood exports and Vietnam's countermeasures
Chapter 4: Some recommendations and solutions to cope with
US non-tariff barriers to Vietnam's seafood exports
Trang 8CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH SITUATION AND PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE DISSERTATION 1.1 International research works on US non-tariff barriers to Vietnam's seafood exports
1.2 Vietnam's studies on non-tariff barriers of the United States on exported seafood products
1.3 General assessment of published works on the tariff barriers of the United States to Vietnam's export-import goods and the theoretical and practical gaps that need further research in the dissertation
non-In theory: There are many studies on "Non-tariff barriers",
but so far, there has not been an official definition of "non-tariff barriers" even in official documents of the WTO Besides, very few constructions of the comprehensive theoretical framework on NTBs Factors affecting the ability to respond to NTBs for Vietnam's export-import goods have not been mentioned Therefore, the dissertation tries to approach the problem as follows:
(1) Overview of the trends, theoretical views on NTBs of scholars, organizations, and countries, from which give a definition and appropriate classification as the basis for the research process of the thesis
(2) The impact of NTBs on exports
(3) Factors affecting NTBs' ability to respond to exported goods of a country
(4) Study China's experience in dealing with NTBs of the United States for export-import products on both the State and the enterprise perspective, thereby drawing lessons for the state management agencies and Vietnamese aquaculture enterprises
In practice: the research works related to the thesis topic still
have many gaps, including:
(1) Lack of in-depth and fully mentioned works on the status and impact of US non-tariff barriers on Vietnam's export-import goods recently (2002-2018) Some analysis studies on technical expertise, antidumping for seafood products but the research time is quite long ago, PhD students can only refer to handling the research
Trang 9issues of the thesis Therefore, it can be said that the thesis's research
is new, systematic, in-depth and updated with the latest developments and trends in NTBs for Vietnam's export-import products
(2) Lack of evaluation works on factors limiting the ability to respond of Vietnamese seafood to NTBs
(3) The number of systematic and comprehensive researches
on the solutions to deal with US.NTBs for Vietnam's export-import goods is very small
Therefore, the thesis will study the current status of US NTBs
on Vietnam's export-import goods in the period of 2002 - 2018 to highlight the characteristics of the US NTBs during this period and as
a basis for forecasting the trend of NTBs of the United States in the coming period The thesis will study the impact of these barriers on Vietnam's export activities and the factors hindering Vietnam's coping capacity
The dissertation also goes in depth to analyze specific response measures, evaluate results and exist in the implementation process, as a basis for proposing solutions Finally, the dissertation desires to offer solutions and policies to help businesses, associations and the State respond to NTBs of the United States in order to boost Vietnam's export in the coming period
CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASIS ON NON- TARIFF BARRIERS OF THE UNITED STATES ON
FISHERIES 2.1 Rationale for non-tariff barriers in international trade
2.1.1 Concept
There are many different definitions of non-tariff barriers, but the majority of studies emphasize the purpose of discrimination to
Trang 10protect domestic production, so according to the PhD student can understand "non-tariff barriers" Tariffs are any measure, not tariffs, but the use of technical and non-technical barriers that hinder imports into a country and protect domestic consumers ”
2.1.2 Classification of non-tariff barriers
Within the framework of the thesis, the PhD student will focus
on two barriers that Vietnam's export enterprises often face when entering the US market: technical barriers (SPS, TBT) and anti-barriers dumping (temporary barrier) to find more specific and more effective countermeasures
2.1.2.1 Technical barriers
2.1.2.2 Anti-dumping barriers (temporary barriers)
2.1.3 Impact of non-tariff barriers on export activities
2.1.3.1 Impact of Technical Barriers (SPS / TBT)
(a) Positive effects
Firstly, Protect the ecological environment and achieve sustainable development
Second, Promote scientific and technological progress and realize the adjustment and optimization of industrial structure
Thirdly, Standardize import markets and improve the quality
of imported goods
(b) Negative effects
The biggest impact of technical barriers to international trade
on firms is the increase in costs
(c) Impacts vary across industries
(d) Impacts vary from country to country
2.1.3.2 Impact of Anti-dumping barriers
2.1.4 Factors affecting a country's ability to respond to NTBs on exports
Business capacity
State management
Capacity to cope with non-tariff barriers Associate
capacity
Trang 11Diagram 2.1 Factors affecting a country's ability to respond to non-tariff barriers on exports
Source: Authors based on the studies of Unctad (2013), Henson et al (1997), Zsoka Koczan and Alexander Plekhanov (2013)
2.2 US non-tariff barriers to fishery products
2.2.1 Technical barriers
a Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA)
Bioterrorism Act (Bioterrorism Act)
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
b Farm Bill "Farm Bill"
c IUU law (law against illegal fishing, undeclared and unregulated)
2.2.2 Temporary barrier - Investigation of antidumping
2.3 Experience of the Chinese fisheries industry in responding to the US non-tariff barriers and Lessons for Vietnam
2.3.1 Overview of China's seafood exports to the United States
2.3.2 Current situation of Chinese seafood exports is entangled with non-tariff barriers of the United States
a Technical barriers
First, the United States applies an "automatic detention" order
to certain fishery products originating from China
Second, the United States refused to enter some Chinese seafood shipments for violating technical standards (food safety and hygiene)
b Temporary barriers (anti-dumping)
Trang 122.3.3 Chinese countermeasures
a For technical barriers
- Government and association measures
Improve seafood export activities through early warning mechanism
Establishment of a core information transaction mechanism Precautionary measures
- Measures of the enterprise
Take the initiative in ensuring food hygiene and safety
Proactively achieve a food safety certificate
Adjust the market structure, diversify the market
b For Temporary Barriers (anti-dumping)
In response to temporary barriers (anti-dumping), China has relied on the role and strength of government, industry organizations, mobilizing the enthusiasm of businesses, and building efforts a four-party cooperation mechanism between "central government, local government, commercial organizations, businesses" to resolve trade disputes
2.3.4 Some lessons learned from studying Chinese seafood industry's experience in dealing with non-tariff barriers
a Technical barriers
- Lessons for State management agencies
Firstly, educating the public awareness and raising awareness
of food safety for management agencies and enterprises
Second, establish an effective early warning mechanism
- Lessons for businesses
Firstly, Vietnamese businesses strive to achieve international quality management system certification
Second, adjust the export strategy
b Temporary barriers (anti-dumping)
- Lessons for state agencies
- Lessons for businesses