Difficulties await if US applies trade remedies against Vietnam's steel

Lai Quang Trung, head of the market planning division at the Vietnam Steel Corporation, said if that is the case, steel businesses will have to sell their products in the domestic market, whose demand is currently lower than producers’ capacity, which in turn can also affect their sales. 

He made the remark after some US steelmakers filed a petition to the US Department of Commerce (DOC) asking for an investigation into the alleged circumvention of anti-dumping and countervailing by cold-rolled steel products imported from Vietnam. 

The US producers suspect Chinese steel is processed in Vietnam to have the Vietnamese origin, so as to evade high taxes on imported Chinese steel products imposed by the US. 

Although the official decision has not been made, US importers have suspended ordering cold-rolled steel coils from Vietnam, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA). 

VSA Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Sua said trade remedies are common at present, so the association’s member businesses should improve their competitiveness through raising product quality, cutting down production expenses and updating technology. 

The VSA and its member enterprises will work with state management agencies to take appropriate measures in line with international regulations to oppose the launch of an anti-circumvention inquiry into Vietnam’s cold-rolled steel coils, he added. 

Insiders said when facing similar cases, Vietnamese companies can publicise their business production process and relevant certificates or licences so as to prove their products’ quality and origin. 

They also called for mechanisms to be built to immediately remove fake Vietnamese-origin products since if those commodities are shipped to other countries, both the prestige of genuine Vietnamese goods and importers will be affected.-