Early warnings help Vietnam mitigate trade probe impacts

Early warning efforts and support for businesses in responding to foreign trade remedy investigations of Vietnamese exports have yielded positive results in recent times, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Vietnamese farm produce in the Australian market. Photo: Hoai Nam/The Hanoi Times

“Many exporting businesses have successfully proven their compliance, allowing them to avoid high tariffs or face only minimal duties. This has helped them maintain and expand their markets,” noted the MoIT in a recent report.

For instance, Vietnam has demonstrated that its exporters did not engage in acts to circumvent trade defense measures applied to third countries in the US investigation of round stainless steel wire. Australia has ended its anti-dumping investigation on ammonium nitrate, and Vietnamese solar panel exporters to the US have been temporarily exempted from trade remedy tariffs. Additionally, the official anti-dumping duties imposed by Mexico on coated steel were reduced compared to the preliminary rates.

The agency reported that in the first half of the year, several products were put on alert for potential trade remedy investigations, including paper plates, steel, and cold-rolled stainless steel. Specifically, the US investigated anti-dumping and countervailing measures on paper plates, Canada on steel wire and screws, and South Korea on cold-rolled stainless steel.

Overall, in the first six months, Vietnamese exports faced 252 trade remedy investigations (cases) from 24 markets, up 9% on year. The investigations in the first half of the year were primarily anti-dumping (138 cases), safeguard (50 cases), anti-circumvention (37 cases), and countervailing (27 cases).

Authorities attributed the increase in trade remedy investigations against Vietnamese goods to the country's effective use of free trade agreements, which have expanded and increased export volumes.

The complex global situation, slow economic recovery, and the rise in quantity and scale of Vietnamese goods have intensified competition with domestic production in importing countries, stated the MoIT.

Consequently, these countries have intensified their investigations and applied trade defense measures to protect their local industries.

Domestically, the MoIT also ramped up investigations and applied defense measures to protect local industries from the looming threat of dumped and subsidized imports. The Ministry initiated 28 trade defense investigations and applied 22 measures on imported goods.

The MoIT is applying four trade remedy measures on imported steel products and one on welding materials. It is also conducting a sunset review of anti-dumping measures on cold-rolled stainless steel and color-coated steel, with results expected in October.

The Import-Export Department under the MoIT suggested that import and export activities in the first half of 2024 continued to show positive results. Preliminary data estimated Vietnam’s total trade value at $369.6 billion, a 16% increase compared to the same period last year. Exports are estimated at $189.5 billion, up 14.2%. The MoIT forecasts that export growth for the entire year of 2024 could surpass the target of 6%.