"The Thai sweet corn industry will die. We cannot compete with other countries if the EU imposes 28 percent duties on us," said Pornchai Pinvises, vice president and chairman of the Thai sweet corn processor group.
On Thursday, some 100 Thai sweet corn exporters demonstrated outside the French embassy here and rallied in front of the Bangkok office of the European Union to protest against the hefty duties.
Within two months, the EU is set to impose an additional 13.2-percent tax on Thai sweet corn products, on top of the current 15-percent, bringing the total duties on Thai corn exports to 28.2-percent, Pornchai said.
He said French vegetable giants Bonduelle and D'Aucy were behind the EU's decision and called for an investigation.
"We asked the EU to investigate as Thai companies were not involved in dumping on the European market," Pornchai said.
The heavy anti-dumping duties could affect more than one million Thais in the industry, he said, adding that his group was in talks with the commerce ministry to discuss whether to bring a case to the World Trade Organisation.
Thailand is the world's third largest sweet corn producer, after the United States and France. Some 34 percent of Thai sweet corn products was exported to the European Union last year, Pornchai said.
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