Vietnam eliminating tariffs on U.S. wheat; corn, pork tariffs being cut

Erin Ehnle Brown / Grand Vale Creative LLC

By Agweek staff report and Jeff Beach

November 16, 2021 at 9:35 AM

Vietnam is eliminating its tariffs on U.S. wheat and will cut tariffs for corn and frozen pork.

The country is lowering the duty on corn from 5% to 2% and on frozen pork from 15% to 10%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. The tariff on wheat imports had been 3%,

The tariff reductions for wheat and corn will take effect on Dec. 30, 2021, while the reduction for frozen pork will enter into force on July 1, 2022.

U.S. exports of corn, wheat and pork to Vietnam were valued at $228 million in 2020, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service. In 2020, Vietnam was the seventh-largest destination for U.S. agricultural exports, totaling $3.3 billion. The largest export growth from the United States to Vietnam in 2020 was in soybeans and wheat, up $158 million and $64 million, respectively.

The decree comes after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Hanoi in August. Vietnam had reduced wheat tariffs from 5% to 3% 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 the marketing year 2020/21, second in volume only to Australia, according to a joint statement from U.S. Wheat Associates and National Association of Wheat Growers. 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,” Darren Padget, U.S. Wheat Associates chairman and a soft white wheat grower from Grass Valley, Ore., said in a news release.

“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, National Association of Wheat Growers 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.”