US accuses Vieät Nam of dumping steel

Vuõ Baù Phuù, VCA deputy director general

 

Vu Ba Phu, VCA deputy director general

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has officially initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on imports of circulate welded carbon steel pipes from India, Oman, UAE and Vieät Nam. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determination on or about December 12, 2011. Vieät Nam News reporter Mai Höông had an interview with Vuõ Baù Phuù, deputy director general of Vieät Nam Competition Authority (VCA) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, about the impact of this lawsuit.

The DOC has initiated investigations for charges of dumping and subsidy against steel products from Vieät Nam. Could you tell us the latest developments of this lawsuit?

On October 26, 2011, a number of US steel companies simultaneously filed a petition to the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) for anti-dumping and countervailing duty on circulate welded carbon steel pipes imported from several countries, including Vieät Nam. On November 15, the DOC determined to officially carry out the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations for these products.

Under US law, regarding the anti-dumping duty petition, the DOC will be scheduled to make its preliminary determination on April 3, 2012 and the final conclusion on June 25, 2012. Regarding the countervailing duty investigation, the DOC will be scheduled to issue the preliminary determination on January 19, 2012, and the final decision on April 3, 2012. However, this timetable may be extended.

As soon as receiving word of the incident, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) issued a diplomatic note opposing the launch of the countervailing duty investigation by US authorities against Vieät Nam’s steel products.

How will this lawsuit affect domestic steel producers?

Currently, competition for this merchandise is very high on the US market. If the US authorities decide to levy a tax or high tariffs on this commodity, steel companies will find it harder to export welded carbon steel pipes to the US. Moreover, as this is a dual petition (anti-dumping and countervailing duty), Vietnamese steelmakers are at more of a disadvantage.

Other Vietnamese export items have also recently been subject to anti-dumping lawsuits, including shrimp, fish, bicycles and fluorescent lamps. Could you talk about the reasons behind the increasing anti-dumping cases against Vietnamese exports?

Firstly, we should know that foreign parties launching investigations is normal in international trade. The further we integrate into international trade, the larger our export volumes are, the faster our growth is, the more competitive our product prices are, then the greater the risk of being sued by domestic producers in importing countries.

In the future, this trend will likely increase due to the global economic recession, lower demand and stagnant production in many countries. Countries will tend to resort to this tool, alleging domestic production is hurt by imports.

After every lawsuit, experts give many recommendations for domestic companies to improve their defence. In your opinion, how have Vietnamese producers improved so far?

Anti-dumping is a relatively new term for Vietnamese businesses. Enterprise awareness and understanding is not high, and they’re not prepared with necessary skills to respond to this problem. In addition, companies don’t pay enough attention to this issue; they’re not proactive and don’t make sufficient financial investments in human resources to appeal lawsuits.

Besides, we can say that associations and companies haven’t had close collaboration in sharing information to gather sufficient resources to effectively respond to lawsuits.

Which export commodities of Vieät Nam are easily subject to anti-dumping petitions and what should enterprises do in the case of being sued?

Following the Government’s policy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed an early warning system via the website www.canhbaosom.vn. This website provides the information of possible anti-dumping investigations for some key export items in major export markets. Therefore, we hope that businesses and associations regularly access this website for timely information. — VNS