The United States issued the final conclusion on the anti-dumping investigation into Vietnamese extruded aluminum.

The Trade Remedies Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that on October 24, 2023, the US Department of Commerce initiated an investigation into the case at the request of the plaintiff: the Aluminum, Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Industrial, Energy, and Industrial Services Alliance of the United States.

According to the Trade Remedies Department, the general information regarding the case is as follows:

The anti-dumping investigation period was from April 1st to September 30th, 2023. On October 25th, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued Quantity and Value (Q&V) Questionnaires to 13 named companies whose full addresses were provided, in order to gather information for the selection of mandatory respondents. However, the U.S. Department of Commerce only received timely responses from 7 out of the 13 named companies, while 31 companies were not named.

The U.S. Department of Commerce allows businesses to apply for individualized tariff rates (typically calculated as a weighted average of the required respondents), in which the company must demonstrate that it is not under any legal or de facto government control over its export operations, and has received 31 applications.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will issue its final determination on injury within 45 days of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) issuing its final determination. (Illustrative image)

On November 27, 2023, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a preliminary conclusion that the U.S. industry showed signs of significant injury caused by extruded aluminum and aluminum products imported from Vietnam. On December 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected two companies as mandatory respondents. However, on December 26, 2023, one respondent withdrew from the list of mandatory respondents because it did not manufacture or export the investigated products to the United States during the investigation period. Therefore, the sole remaining respondent in the case continued to answer the investigation questionnaires of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

On April 19, 2024, the plaintiff filed a complaint alleging an emergency status of the case due to a sudden surge of 36.07% in exports of the investigated product from Vietnam to the United States between October 2023 and February 2023 (after the United States received the complaint and initiated the case) compared to the preceding five-month period (May to September 2023).

On May 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce published a notice requiring the deposit of a security deposit equal to the corresponding dumping margin for a retroactive period of 90 days prior to the publication of the preliminary findings (i.e., starting February 7, 2024). This regulation aims to prevent a massive influx of investigated goods into the United States before the Department of Commerce has had time to implement preliminary measures.

Because Vietnam is considered by the United States to be a non-market economy , the U.S. Department of Commerce chose a surrogate country to calculate the normal value for Vietnam. On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce requested comments from the parties regarding the choice of surrogate country/surrogate data. While the plaintiff proposed Indonesia as the surrogate country, the defendant proposed Indonesia, Jordan, the Philippines, Morocco, or Sri Lanka as the surrogate country.

After considering factors such as economic comparability, production of significant quantities of comparable goods, and the availability and quality of data, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected Indonesia as an alternative to Vietnam.

On May 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary conclusion on the scope of goods under investigation due to objections from Vietnamese exporters, importers, and U.S. Congressmen regarding the plaintiff's proposed overly broad scope. On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce published its final conclusion on the scope of goods under investigation to clarify which goods were subject to the tariffs.

On May 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce published its preliminary findings in the gazette. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Commerce determined the dumping margin for the sole remaining mandatory respondent to be 2.85%. The 28 companies that met the criteria for individual duty rates also received this rate. Other companies were subject to the nationwide duty rate equal to the margin alleged by the plaintiff, which was 41.84%.

On October 3, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce published its final conclusion in the case. Accordingly, the U.S. Department of Commerce determined the dumping margin for the sole remaining mandatory respondent to be 14.15% (an increase of 11.3% from the preliminary conclusion). The 28 companies that met the criteria for individual duty rates also received this rate. Other companies received the nationwide duty rate equal to the margin alleged by the plaintiff, which was 41.84% (unchanged from the preliminary conclusion).

The main reason for the change in tariff rates is that the United States has not yet recognized Vietnam as a market economy. Therefore, the US Department of Commerce used the costs of a third country (in this case, Indonesia) as a surrogate value and changed two points in the final conclusion, specifically: Changes in the use of financial revenue, input costs, transportation costs, and electricity prices; Changes in the use of HS codes for some raw materials used in the production process imported into Indonesia (instead of the HS codes as in the preliminary conclusion).

The U.S. Department of Commerce has notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend liquidation and require deposits equal to the dumping margin on imported shipments.

Specifically, the following applies: For the producer/exporter consortium listed in the table above, the margin requirement is 2.85%; for consortiums of Vietnamese producers/exporters not listed in the table above, the margin requirement is 41.84%; and for all third-country exporters not listed in the table above, the margin requirement is equal to the margin applied to the Vietnamese producer/exporter consortium listed in the table above or the nationwide rate (depending on which Vietnamese producer/exporter they purchase from).

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Trade Remedies Bureau, the ITC has notified the ITC of this final conclusion. Under U.S. regulations, the ITC will issue its final injury assessment within 45 days of the U.S. Department of Commerce issuing its own assessment. If the ITC concludes there is no injury to the domestic industry, the case will be terminated and the deposit will be fully refunded. Otherwise, the U.S. Department of Commerce will issue an anti-dumping duty order.

The Trade Remedies Department recommends: For the Vietnam Aluminum Profile Association: Update information to businesses producing and exporting the products under investigation.

For businesses producing and exporting related products: Continue to closely monitor developments in the case; proactively research and understand the regulations, procedures, and processes of the US anti-dumping investigation; diversify export markets and products; and fully cooperate with the US Department of Commerce throughout the entire process.

The Trade Remedies Department emphasizes that any action demonstrating non-cooperation or incomplete cooperation may lead to the US investigating authority using adverse available evidence or applying the highest anti-dumping duty rate to the enterprise; consider requesting an administrative review or a new exporter review (if deemed necessary); regularly coordinate and update information with the Trade Remedies Department to receive timely support.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/hoa-ky-ban-hanh-ket-luan-cuoi-cung-vu-dieu-tra-chong-ban-pha-gia-nhom-dun-ep-viet-nam-352852.html