Trade Counsellor Ngo Van Thoan told a Washington-based Vietnam News Agency correspondent on March 30 that even though Vietnam has provided enough evidence showing that its bag manufacturers conform to WTO regulations, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) still puts anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese PE bags.

On March 26, the DOC announced the results of its countervailing duty investigations into the case of Vietnamese PE imports, according to which Vietnamese bag manufacturers sold their products at prices between 52.3-76.11 percent lower than their real value on the US market. It also found that the makers enjoyed government subsidies of between 1-52.56 percent.

As a result, the DOC has decided to introduce tariffs of 0.44 - 5.28 - 52.56 percent on three of the sued companies: the Chin Sheng Co. Ltd, Fotai Vietnam Enterprise Corp. and Advance Polybag respectively, and a level of 5.28 percent on other Vietnamese exporters.

However, the decision will not come into effect until the US International Trade Commission (ITC) releases its final determination, scheduled for May 10. If the ITC finds PE bag imports from Vietnam seriously damage the domestic industry, the DOC will announce its final decision. If not, the results of investigations will be annulled.