According to the Trade Defense Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, as import-export turnover increases, the risk of conflict of interest between imported goods and similar goods produced in the importing country will be greater and the possibility of triggering trade defense investigations on imported goods will be higher. To date, there have been 234 trade defense cases investigated by foreign countries on Vietnamese export goods.
Economist Nguyen Minh Phong had an interview about this issue with Cong Thuong Newspaper.
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| (Photo: Danh Lam/VNA) |
In recent times, along with the economic integration process, Vietnam's goods exports have grown strongly, but at the same time, many trade defense cases have been investigated. What is your assessment of this issue?
Currently, we are witnessing a rather complex international context, along with the globalization process, along with economic fragmentation and trade protectionism, leading to many trade defense lawsuits.
For Vietnam, the process of deep economic integration, participation in signing many free trade agreements, and export growth means facing many trade defense cases, which is one of the pressures for the Government and businesses.
Notably, the cases are often associated with anti-dumping investigations, anti-dumping evasion, trade fraud, etc., showing that Vietnam has very good advantages in terms of goods origin, but at the same time, it is also very easy to abuse and sue if not managed well.
How will increased trade defense investigations disadvantage Vietnamese export activities and brands, sir?
Any item that is investigated for trade defense and leads to the imposition of tariffs will cause great damage to the export of goods of enterprises, the competitive advantage of exporting enterprises will be reduced, leading to loss of brand reputation and market share in the international market. In particular, it takes a lot of money to pursue the cases.
Especially for countries with export quotas, if we assist in origin fraud and dumping, in addition to losing all quotas, we will also be forced to export at higher taxes from the market.
Not only that, these cases also cause disadvantages for Vietnam when they fall into the crosshairs and are included in the trade defense investigation list. From these damages, businesses themselves must be aware of their responsibility in avoiding group interests, helping goods "borrow the way" for export, hindering the export of their goods.
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| Economist Nguyen Minh Phong |
It can be said that the damage caused by being investigated for trade defense by the export market is huge. So what is your assessment of domestic enterprises' awareness of this measure?
In fact, although there have been positive changes in foreign and domestic trade defense measures, tax investigations from international markets show that businesses' awareness of trade defense is still lacking.
In export activities, businesses are often subjective, do not update, care about, and understand market regulations; at the same time, they consider domestic technical barriers to be internationally compatible, causing goods to be frequently returned, even losing the market.
Regarding domestic trade defense, businesses are mostly at the mercy of the situation. Usually, when counterfeiting and dumping occur, businesses mostly deal with it themselves, and the support and role of industry associations are not clear while the resources of businesses are very limited. Therefore, the business community is often fragmented by competitive pressure from abroad, leading to a situation of losing right at home.
From the challenges of trade defense investigations in many countries, what measures do we need to implement to proactively respond and maintain the export flow of goods, sir?
First of all, in my opinion, the management agency must increase measures to protect the manufacturing industry, avoid trade and origin fraud; must identify more technical barriers of countries, the nature of trade defense lawsuits to proactively propose solutions and scenarios to respond quickly and effectively.
On the other hand, it is necessary to guide and issue strict regulations on production for domestic enterprises in accordance with international criteria and standards to minimize violations, leading to investigation and application of trade defense measures. This will bring about advantages in exporting goods to international markets.
In addition, authorities need to build a solid domestic trade defense barrier that is regularly controlled and updated to ensure practical effects and efficiency, avoiding damage to the domestic manufacturing industry as well as the domestic investment environment.
For the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it is necessary to closely follow the roadmap of countries that have FTAs with Vietnam to grasp export requirements, thereby minimizing trade defense disputes; promptly publish information for businesses to know and proactively develop appropriate production strategies; develop regulations for domestic businesses to apply and be forced to apply, thereby creating compliance with regulations for export goods to reduce disputes, as well as risks of damage from trade defense barriers.
Thank you!
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