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August 25, 2021

US Wheat Associates welcomes suspension of Vietnam wheat import tariff

In a recent press release the US Wheat Associates (USW) has announced that it is grateful to the Biden Administration and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) for their work alongside Vietnam's Ministry of Finance to reduce the cost of wheat for Vietnam's millers and consumers.

As part of a bilateral package announced during Vice President Kamala Harris' Indo-Pacific trip, Vietnam will reduce or eliminate import tariffs on several US commodities including wheat. The tariff suspensions are expected to be implemented soon and will help reduce food costs for the Vietnamese people. It will also help make US wheat more competitive in Vietnam's growing wheat market.
 
Wheat
Image credit: Clare Black on Flickr
(CC BY 2.0)


Vietnam, like many countries this year, has seen significant food and feed price inflation due to the rise in global commodity prices and COVID impacts on supply chains. Vietnam's government should be commended for taking this proactive step to assist their domestic millers and consumers.

The newly announced reduction follows one from July 2020, when Vietnam reduced its tariff on imported US wheat (excluding durum) from five percent to three percent in a revision of its Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates.  Vietnam is the last remaining Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) country applying a tariff against US wheat imports but not against Canadian and Australian wheat, making today's announcement particularly noteworthy for US wheat growers.

Despite the tariffs, Vietnam's imports of US hard red winter (HRW), soft white (SW) and hard red winter (HRW) wheat exceeded 500,000 metric tons in marketing year 2020/21, second in volume only to Australia. Vietnam currently imports an average of more than three million metric tons of wheat per year.

The suspension was granted because of the dedicated work between USDA/FAS, co-operator organisations and the Vietnamese importers who petitioned their government to reduce or eliminate certain MFN tariffs to help hold down rising food and feed prices.

US Wheat Associates' (USW) mission is to develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance wheat's profitability for US wheat producers and its value for their customers in more than 100 countries. Its activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 17 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service.

For more information visit the US Wheat Associates website, HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

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