Many low-export turnover items are also subject to defense investigations.

Many low export turnover items are also subject to defense investigation.

More and more markets are initiating investigations into Vietnamese goods, in addition to the US, EU, ASEAN, now also Mexico, Taiwan, South Africa..., the scope of investigated products is also expanding to items with low export value.

Ms. Truong Thuy Linh, Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Defense ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ): "Many low-value export items are also subject to trade defense investigations."

The Trade Promotion Conference with the Vietnamese Trade Office System Abroad in September 2024 was held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the morning of September 30, connecting many points with the Vietnamese Trade Offices in foreign markets.

With 19 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), of which 16 are being implemented and 3 are being negotiated, Vietnam is a highly open economy and is increasingly integrating more deeply into the international economy. Many of Vietnam's manufacturing/export industries have large export turnover and are continuously growing strongly.

In the first 8 months of 2024, the total export turnover of goods reached 265 billion USD, an increase of 15.8% over the same period last year, of which 30 items achieved an export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.3% of the total export turnover (there were 6 items exported over 10 billion USD, accounting for 62.6%).

In addition to the specific advantages of a developing country, such as cheap labor and low production costs, the fact that Vietnam's export goods increasingly meet international quality standards makes Vietnamese goods a major threat to the domestic manufacturing industry of many importing countries.

To limit damage to domestic manufacturing industries, many countries have increased the use of trade defense tools, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and self-defense measures against Vietnamese goods.

Recently, some countries, such as the United States, have increased the use of "trade defense tax evasion measures". This measure aims to prevent acts of changing the origin of exported goods subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes to "avoid" taxes from other exporting countries.

Most recently, on September 20, South Africa initiated an investigation into anti-dumping tax evasion on car, bus and truck tires originating or imported from Vietnam, with allegations of evading anti-dumping taxes imposed on China. The alleged dumping margin against Vietnam in this case is up to 84%.

Currently, the Department of Trade Defense is handling many new cases arising from markets suing Vietnamese goods.

Ms. Truong Thuy Linh, Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Defense (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said: "More and more markets are initiating investigations into Vietnamese goods, previously traditional markets such as the US, EU, or ASEAN, but now also Mexico, Taiwan, and South Africa."

The scope of products under investigation is increasingly diverse, not limited to items with large export turnover such as shrimp, pangasius, steel, wood, solar panels, etc., but expanded to products with medium and small export value and volume such as lawn mowers, honey, paper plates, staplers, etc.

The trend of defensive investigations is also more stringent. Foreign investigation agencies are increasingly making high demands in many aspects on the government and investigated enterprises (response deadlines, requests for additional information, difficulty in requesting extensions...).

For example, in the case of upholstered chairs, the Trade Remedies Authority sent a letter requesting an extension of the time for the Canadian investigating agency to respond. However, the Canadian investigating agency did not agree. In addition, Canada also requested information on the materials used to produce the sofa products.

In addition, some countries such as the United States have not recognized Vietnam as a market economy, so they use the costs of a third country to calculate normal value in anti-dumping cases, leading to the trade defense tax rate being pushed up due to market economy issues.

In the process of protecting the rights of Vietnamese manufacturing/exporting enterprises in each case, Ms. Linh said, the outcome of the appeal depends largely on the quality of coordination between the parties involved. In particular, the role of Vietnamese trade offices abroad in early information about the case, supporting manufacturing enterprises, and industry associations in coordinating to provide timely information...

Vietnam's exports are also increasing, along with the increase in export turnover, the number of trade defense cases from markets is also increasing. The Trade Defense Department requests the Trade Office system to coordinate information, provide early warnings of goods at risk of trade defense investigation, support clarification of investigation regulations of the Government of the importing country, support presentation of opinions and views of the Vietnamese Government on the views and conclusions of the investigation agency...

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nhieu-mat-hang-kim-ngach-xuat-khau-thap-cung-bi-dieu-tra-phong-ve-d226200.html