The United States issued the final conclusion of the anti-dumping investigation into Vietnamese aluminum extrusions.

The Department of Trade Remedies, Ministry of Industry and Trade said that on October 24, 2023, the US Department of Commerce initiated an investigation into the case at the request of the plaintiff: The US Aluminum, Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Industrial, Energy, Industrial and Service Federation.

General information about the case, according to the Department of Trade Defense, is as follows:

Antidumping investigation period: April 1 to September 30, 2023. On October 25, 2023, the US Department of Commerce issued the Q&V Questionnaires to 13 named companies with complete addresses to collect information for the selection of mandatory respondents. However, the US Department of Commerce only received timely responses from 7/13 named companies and 31 unnamed companies.

The U.S. Department of Commerce allows businesses to apply for individual rates (usually calculated as a weighted average of mandatory respondents), in which the company must demonstrate that it is not subject to de jure or de facto government control of its export activities, and has received 31 applications.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will issue its final injury determination within 45 days of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) issuing its final determination. Illustration photo

On November 27, 2023, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a preliminary determination that the U.S. industry was materially injured by imports of aluminum extrusions and aluminum products from Vietnam. On December 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce designated two companies as mandatory respondents. However, on December 26, 2023, one respondent filed a petition to withdraw from the list of mandatory respondents because it did not manufacture or export the subject product to the United States during the investigation period. Therefore, the sole remaining respondent in the case continues to respond to the U.S. Department of Commerce's investigation questionnaires.

On April 19, 2024, the Plaintiff filed a petition alleging the urgency of the case due to the export volume of the investigated product from Vietnam to the United States from October 2023 to February 2023 (after the United States received the petition and initiated the case) increasing by 36.07% compared to the previous 5-month period (May to September 2023).

On May 28, 2024, the US Department of Commerce published a notice requiring the deposit of the corresponding anti-dumping margin retroactively 90 days before the publication of the preliminary determination (ie from February 7, 2024). This provision is intended to prevent the massive export of investigated goods into the United States before the US Department of Commerce has time to apply preliminary measures.

Since Vietnam is considered by the United States to be a non-market economy, the US Department of Commerce has selected a surrogate country to calculate the normal value for Vietnam. On February 13, 2024, the US Department of Commerce requested comments from the parties on the issue of selecting a surrogate country/surrogate data. While the plaintiff proposed to select Indonesia as a surrogate country, the defendant proposed to select Indonesia or Jordan or the Philippines or Morocco or Sri Lanka as a surrogate country.

After considering factors such as economic comparability, production of significant quantities of comparable goods, and data availability and quality, the U.S. Department of Commerce selected Indonesia as a surrogate country for Vietnam.

On May 1, 2024, the US Department of Commerce issued a preliminary conclusion on the scope of goods under investigation due to many objections from Vietnamese exporters, importers and US Congressmen regarding the overly broad scope of the plaintiff's proposal. On October 3, 2024, the US Department of Commerce published the final conclusion on the scope of goods under investigation to clarify the subjects of tax.

On May 7, 2024, the US Department of Commerce published its preliminary findings in the case. Accordingly, the US Department of Commerce determined the dumping margin for the sole remaining mandatory respondent to be 2.85%. The 28 enterprises that meet the conditions for individual tax rates are also subject to this rate. The other enterprises are subject to a national tax rate equal to the margin alleged by the plaintiff, which is 41.84%.

On October 3, 2024, the US Department of Commerce published the final conclusion of the case. Accordingly, the US Department of Commerce determined the dumping margin for the only remaining mandatory defendant to be 14.15% (an increase of 11.3% compared to the preliminary conclusion). 28 enterprises that meet the conditions for individual tax rates are also subject to this rate. Other enterprises are subject to a national tax rate equal to the margin alleged by the plaintiff, which is 41.84% (remaining the same as the preliminary conclusion).

The main reason for the change in tax rates is that the United States has not recognized Vietnam as a market economy, so the US Department of Commerce used the costs of a third country (Indonesia in this case) as a replacement value and changed 2 points in the final conclusion, specifically as follows: Changes in the use of financial revenue, input costs, transportation costs, electricity prices; Changes in the use of HS codes of some raw materials used in the production process imported into Indonesia (instead of the HS code as in the preliminary conclusion).

The U.S. Department of Commerce has notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to suspend clearance and require collateral equal to the dumping margin on imported shipments.

Specifically as follows: For the manufacturer/exporter combination listed in the table above, the margin is 2.85%; For the combination of Vietnamese manufacturers/exporters not listed in the table above, the margin is 41.84%; and for all third-country exporters not listed in the table above, the margin is equal to the margin applicable to the Vietnamese manufacturer/exporter combination listed in the table above or the national level (depending on which Vietnamese manufacturer/exporter they purchase from).

According to the Trade Remedies Authority, the US Department of Commerce has notified the ITC of this final determination. Under US regulations, the ITC will issue a final determination of injury within 45 days from the date the US Department of Commerce issues its final determination. If the ITC concludes that there is no injury to the domestic industry, the case will be terminated and the entire deposit will be refunded. Otherwise, the US Department of Commerce will issue an anti-dumping duty order.

The Trade Defense Department recommends: For the Vietnam Aluminum Profile Association: Update information to enterprises manufacturing and exporting products under investigation.

For enterprises producing and exporting related products: Continue to closely monitor the developments of the case; proactively research and master the regulations, procedures, and processes of US anti-dumping investigations; diversify export markets and products; Fully cooperate with the US Department of Commerce throughout the course of the case.

The Trade Defense Department emphasizes that any act of non-cooperation or incomplete cooperation may result in the US Investigation Agency using available evidence to the disadvantage or applying the highest anti-dumping tax rate to the enterprise; consider requesting an administrative review or a review of a new exporter (if necessary); regularly coordinate and update information with the Trade Defense Department to receive timely support.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/hoa-ky-ban-hanh-ket-luan-cuoi-cung-vu-dieu-tra-chong-ban-pha-gia-nhom-dun-ep-viet-nam-352852.html