Philippines, India issue preliminary conclusions on investigation into Vietnamese cement and steel

Both Philippine and Indian authorities have made preliminary conclusions that cement and alloy/non-alloy flat steel from Vietnam are causing injury to domestic production, and have proposed to impose provisional duties until a formal decision is made.

Philippines, India issue preliminary conclusions on investigation into Vietnamese cement and steel

Both Philippine and Indian authorities have made preliminary conclusions that cement and alloy/non-alloy flat steel from Vietnam are causing injury to domestic production, and have proposed to impose provisional duties until a formal decision is made.

Philippines concludes preliminary investigation into Vietnamese cement

The provisional safeguard measure in the form of cash deposits will be applied for 200 days on cement imported into the Philippines.

The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued preliminary conclusions on the investigation into the application of safeguard measures on cement products imported into the country.

The DTI preliminarily concluded that during the period 2019 to 2024, the volume of imports of the subject product increased both in absolute terms and relative to the production output of the industry; and at the same time, there exists a causal relationship between the increase in imports of the subject product and serious injury to the Philippine domestic industry.

DTI data shows that Vietnam's import market share in the Philippines accounts for the highest proportion, 94.4% in 2024 (up from 79.4% in 2019).

Additionally, pursuant to Section 8 of RA8800, which provides that “in serious cases where delay is likely to cause irreparable injury and upon a preliminary determination that increased imports are the predominant cause of serious injury to the domestic industry”.

Accordingly, temporary safeguard measures in the form of cash deposits of 400 pesos/MT (equivalent to about 178,500 VND/MT) or 16 pesos/40kg bag of cement (equivalent to about 7,140 VND/40kg bag) will be applied during the time the case is officially investigated by the Tariff Commission.

The period of application is 200 days from the date of issuance of the Duty Order by the Bureau of Customs of the Philippines. Vietnam is not included in the list of excluded developing countries due to its significant import volume into the Philippines.

Following this preliminary conclusion, the case will be referred to the Tariff Commission for a formal investigation to determine whether formal safeguard measures are necessary.

Vietnam flat rolled steel proposed to be temporarily taxed in India

Indian authorities have recommended imposing a temporary safeguard duty on Vietnamese steel at 12% ad valorem for 200 days pending a final decision.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies of India (DGTR) has just announced the preliminary conclusion of the safeguard investigation on non-alloy and alloy steel flat products imported into India.

The case was initiated on the basis of a request from the Indian Steel Association representing many large Indian steel companies such as Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel, AMNS Khopoli, Jindal Steel and Power, Steel Authority of India….

Products under investigation: flat-rolled alloy or non-alloy steel under HS codes: 7208, 7209, 7210, 7211, 7212, 7225, 7226. The scope of products under investigation includes hot-rolled steel products, cold-rolled steel products, anti-corrosion metal-coated steel products (including galvanized steel, cold-galvanized steel, zinc-magnesium alloy-coated steel) and color-coated steel products.

Steel products excluded from the scope of investigation include: cold-rolled grain-oriented electrical steel, cold-rolled non-grain-oriented steel coil/sheet, electroplated steel, tinplate, stainless steel.

The petitioner alleged that the subject product was imported into India in large, rapid and sudden increases, causing serious injury to the domestic industry in India.

Indian businesses have pointed out unforeseen developments that caused the sudden surge in imports including:

After the US imposed a 25% tariff on steel under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, many countries have successively applied trade defense measures on imported steel; Significant excess steel production capacity in China, Japan, and South Korea; China's domestic policy of shifting long steel production to flat-rolled steel for export; China's steel production investment to ASEAN countries;

The petitioner requested the DGTR to impose provisional safeguard measures due to the existence of critical circumstances and to impose the safeguard measures for a period of 4 years.

Through the investigation process, DGTR preliminarily concluded that: There has been a sudden, dramatic and significant increase in imports of the investigated product into India in the recent past, threatening to cause serious damage to the domestic industry producing the investigated product.

At the same time, a state of emergency exists, and delay in applying provisional safeguard measures would cause irreparable damage; it is necessary to apply provisional safeguard measures immediately.

In addition, considering the public interest factor, the DGTR concluded that the application of the provisional safeguard measure at this time is consistent with the public interest.

With the above conclusion, DGTR proposes to apply provisional safeguard measures in the form of tariffs to eliminate the injury and threat of injury to the domestic industry. Specifically, DGTR recommends applying provisional safeguard duties at the rate of 12% ad valorem for 200 days until the final conclusion is reached on the investigated product.

Vietnam is not among the developing countries excluded from safeguard measures due to its significant import market share (over 3%) in India.

In addition, the DGTR allows interested parties to submit comments on the scope of products under investigation in the Preliminary Findings. The DGTR will consider the comments of the interested parties while making the Final Findings. If the DGTR excludes certain products from the scope of investigation in the Final Findings, the importer will be refunded the provisional duty already collected (under India's safeguard provisions).

To promptly respond to the incident, the Department of Trade Remedies recommends that associations and enterprises manufacturing and exporting products subject to investigation/self-defense tax carefully study the Preliminary Conclusion and the issue of product scope, and send comments (if any) within the prescribed time limit to the Indian investigation agency.

Closely monitor information from the investigating agency or the Trade Remedies Authority website to register to attend the hearing in case DGTR organizes it.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/philippines-an-do-ban-hanh-ket-luan-so-bo-vu-viec-dieu-tra-xi-mang-thep-viet-nam-d257456.html