| New regulations on trade defense measures What should businesses do to respond to trade defense lawsuits? |
In the face of trade defense investigations, Vietnamese enterprises must comply with the rules of the market so that they can proactively prevent and avoid trade defense measures. This is what agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy shared with reporters of the Industry and Trade Newspaper.
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| The number of trade defense investigations into Vietnamese export goods is increasing rapidly. Photo: VNA |
Sir, recently, trade defense investigations against Vietnamese export goods have increased rapidly, including agricultural products. How do you assess this issue?
The increase in the number of trade defense investigations into Vietnamese export products is no longer surprising, because the current trend of many countries is to increase protection of domestic production industries.
In particular, in the context of an economy deeply integrated with the world economy, participating in the signing of many Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) has expanded opportunities for our country's goods to penetrate many demanding markets. Therefore, as production and export capacity increases, our country's goods will face more trade defense investigations.
In fact, through many incidents, a positive signal is that the response capacity of the authorities, as well as businesses, has made impressive progress. In particular, the capacity and experience of businesses in trade defense have gradually improved, especially in product groups that are often the subject of trade defense investigations such as: Steel, seafood, wood...
Notably, for these industries, many associations have demonstrated their role as a bridge between businesses in the industry, between businesses and management agencies, representing the voice to protect the common interests of the industry. The authorities, especially the Ministry of Industry and Trade, have also clearly demonstrated their role and support in protecting the interests of Vietnamese goods and businesses in the global economic arena.
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| Agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy |
In the coming period, what do industries need to do to maintain stable export activities?
With the current export growth momentum, Vietnam's manufacturing and export industries are expected to continue to face the risk of increased trade defense investigations in the coming time, especially anti-tax evasion investigations, from many different export markets. The nature of the cases will also become increasingly complex and difficult to respond to and handle.
Faced with this situation, businesses and industries must be clearly aware that Vietnamese goods are in the sights of trade defense in many markets. Therefore, businesses need to make timely changes in production and business activities; strictly comply with market regulations and requirements, and improve product competitiveness... On the other hand, it is necessary to build and supplement human resources with a good understanding of trade defense, avoiding the situation of having to spend a lot of money hiring international lawyers when pursuing investigations initiated by foreign countries.
In addition, Vietnamese export goods are currently facing fierce competition with similar products from countries in the region. Therefore, businesses must promote technology transfer, produce goods according to green trends, and develop the market sustainably; deploy a clear and transparent management and traceability system for raw materials, ensuring that they meet the requirements of importing countries; keep accounting books according to international standards, and keep full invoices and documents to prove that they are not dumping when under investigation.
It is necessary to strictly comply with regulations on certificates of origin; not to assist in acts of origin fraud, evasion of trade defense measures; to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in preventing acts of counterfeiting, origin fraud and illegal transshipment.
Regarding the authorities, how should early warning work be promoted in the face of the "wave" of trade defense investigations?
Authorities, ministries and sectors such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, together with Vietnam Trade Offices, must forecast market consumption trends and increase early warnings of trade defense risks for product lines.
In particular, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to continue to closely coordinate with relevant agencies to strengthen inspection and supervision of origin and post-customs clearance, prevent acts of evading trade defense measures, fraud, and taking advantage of Vietnam to export goods from other countries.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also needs to step up coordination with associations and localities to disseminate information on trade defense to the business community. From there, businesses can grasp the basic principles of investigating and applying trade defense measures; their potential impact on the production and export activities of businesses. At the same time, ministries and sectors need to build digital data on product lines so that businesses can master the market and avoid losing tax reduction opportunities from FTAs.
Thank you!
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