U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) say that the announcement that Vietnam’s government will eliminate a 3 percent tariff on U.S. wheat imports effective December 30, 2021, is welcome news to producers at home and their customers and wheat food processors in Vietnam.
As reported in August 2021, USW and NAWG appreciate the efforts by the Biden Administration, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance toward eliminating this tariff, which follows a reduction from 5 percent to 3 percent in July 2020.
Vietnam imported more than 500,000 metric tons of U.S. hard red spring, soft white, hard red winter, and soft red winter wheat valued at $129 million in marketing year 2020/21, second in volume only to Australia. Vietnam imports an average of about 4 million metric tons of wheat per year.
“U.S. wheat exports to Vietnam’s growing market are much slower so far this year because of short supplies and rising prices, so eliminating this tariff is very important for growers like me,” said Darren Padget, USW Chairman and a soft white wheat grower from Grass Valley, Ore.
“With about half of the wheat we produce available for export each year, we depend on increasing access to markets like Vietnam,” said Dave Milligan, NAWG President and a wheat grower from Cass City, Mich. “Here at home, NAWG will continue advocating for trade policies that work toward positive opportunities for wheat growers and their customers.”
The announcement from the Vietnamese government was part of its revisions to its Most Favored Nation Tariff Rates. As of December 30, the import tax on corn from all origins drops from five percent to two percent, and the tax on all wheat gets zeroed out. The import tax on frozen pork will drop from 15 to 10 percent on July 1, 2022.
“This is great news for U.S. products as it levels the playing field with our competitors from the Black Sea and Southeast Asia,” says U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Ryan LeGrand. “Together with the USDA’s Foreign Ag Service, the Council’s work in Vietnam helped make this happen.”
The USDA says American exports of corn, wheat, and pork to Vietnam were valued at $228 million in 2020. Vietnamese purchases of DDGS increased in 2020-2021 to 1.7 million metric tons, making Vietnam the second-largest market for American DDGs.
“We look forward to building on our strengthened relationship with Vietnam as we find new homes for U.S. corn and related products for our members here at home,” LeGrand says.
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USW/NAWG/USGC
