Businesses are taxed heavily for not cooperating in defense cases.

Businesses are taxed heavily for not cooperating in defense cases.

Five uncooperative companies, including one defendant company that refused to participate in the case, and four companies that did not answer questions about quantity and value were subject to a preliminary tax of 237.65% by the United States in the lawsuit against paper plates imported from Vietnam.

Five companies that did not cooperate in the US lawsuit against Vietnamese paper plate exports have been subject to temporary preliminary duties of up to 237.65%.

Although the Department of Trade Defense ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) has repeatedly noted the need for coordination in foreign lawsuits against Vietnamese exported goods, there are still businesses that are temporarily or officially taxed at high levels due to not cooperating with foreign plaintiffs.

Most recently, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a preliminary conclusion of the anti-subsidy investigation into paper plates (HS codes 4823.69.0040 or 4823.61.0040 and can be packaged with other products under HS codes 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000) imported from Vietnam.

This case was initiated by DOC on February 14 this year at the request of US paper plate manufacturers.

In this case, DOC selected two mandatory defendants. However, one mandatory defendant declined to participate in the case, leaving only one mandatory defendant in this case.

According to the preliminary conclusion just issued, the sole defendant company in the case is subject to a temporary anti-subsidy tax of 5.48%.

There were 5 companies that did not cooperate, including: 1 defendant company that refused to participate in the case and 4 companies that did not answer the question of quantity and value subject to provisional anti-subsidy duties up to 237.65%. This tax rate is calculated based on available unfavorable data.

The remaining Vietnamese companies are subject to a 5.48% tax rate at the sole defendant company's rate.

Based on this preliminary conclusion, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require deposits for shipments exported to the United States under the above temporary countervailing duty rates from July 1, 2024.

The Department of Trade Remedies said that next, DOC plans to conduct on-site inspections to verify the information provided by Vietnamese enterprises. This is one of the bases for DOC to issue the final conclusion, giving official tax rates for Vietnamese enterprises.

Interested parties may also submit comments on the case no later than 7 days after the date the final examination report is issued. Rebuttals to comments from other parties must be submitted no later than 5 days after the deadline for submitting comments.

DOC may then hold a Hearing if requested by the parties and issue a final determination (expected on November 5, 2024 if not extended).

Therefore, the Trade Remedies Authority recommends that relevant enterprises prepare and cooperate well with DOC in the upcoming review as well as send comments with DOC's preliminary conclusions if necessary.

According to the plaintiff's complaint, during the period from December 2022 to November 2023, the amount of imports of the alleged product (under HS code 4823.69.00.40) from Vietnam to the United States was approximately 3,240 tons, accounting for approximately 4.02% of the total imports into the United States (while China accounted for approximately 73.98% and Thailand accounted for approximately 2.82%).

Data from the US International Trade Commission (ITC) shows that Vietnam exported about 9.3 million USD of this product to the US in 2022. In 2023, Vietnam exported about 9 million USD (down about 3% compared to the previous year).

Source: https://baodautu.vn/doanh-nghiep-bi-ap-thue-cao-vi-khong-hop-tac-trong-cac-vu-viec-phong-ve-d219494.html