By the end of September 2024, Vietnam had conducted 30 trade defense investigations and was maintaining the application of 22 trade defense measures on imported goods. The total annual revenue of domestic manufacturing enterprises participating in trade defense cases is estimated at VND475 trillion. The number of direct employees working at enterprises is about 36,000 people. Annual budget revenue from trade defense taxes is from VND1,200 to VND1,500 billion.
Assessing the effectiveness of trade defense measures for the steel industry, Mr. Dinh Quoc Thai, General Secretary of the Vietnam Steel Association, emphasized that the steel industry is a highly competitive industry but there is always a global oversupply situation, so it is easy for foreign enterprises to sell at low prices to resolve inventory, especially during difficult periods in the export market. Therefore, steel is one of the industries with the largest number of trade defense investigations, not only in Vietnam but also in the world. In recent years, thanks to trade defense measures, the Vietnamese steel industry has had the opportunity to develop and compete fairly with imported goods in the domestic market. At the same time, the steel industry has also built a complete value chain from hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, and galvanized steel, with enough capacity to expand exports to other markets.
The sugar industry is also showing the positive impact of trade defense measures. Mr. Tran Vinh Chung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association, said that since anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes were applied to sugar imported from Thailand, domestic sugar production has increased from approximately 700,000 tons in the 2020-2021 crop year to nearly 1.2 million tons in the 2023-2024 crop year, an increase of 161%. The revenue of sugar factories has doubled in the same period. The impact of trade defense measures is not only limited to the business results of sugar factories but also reflected in the improvement in the income of sugarcane farmers. The average sugarcane purchase price has increased from VND 850,000/ton of sugarcane in the 2020-2021 crop year to approximately VND 1.2 million/ton of sugarcane in the 2023-2024 crop year, an increase of 152%. Farmers are more confident in sticking with sugarcane, and the sugarcane growing area continues to expand.
For export industries, the satisfactory handling of trade defense investigations has helped businesses take advantage of and maintain the results brought about by the international economic integration process. Up to now, Vietnam's exports have faced 263 trade defense investigations from 25 markets. Of which, the leading cases are anti-dumping investigations (144 cases), followed by self-defense cases (53 cases), anti-circumvention of trade defense measures (38 cases) and anti-subsidy cases (28 cases).
Although the number of foreign trade defense investigations into Vietnam's export goods tends to increase, thanks to the initiative of enterprises as well as the active support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies, many cases have achieved relatively positive results such as enterprises not being subject to trade defense taxes or being subject to low taxes, thereby continuing to maintain export markets.
According to Mr. Cao Xuan Thanh, Chief of Office of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, in recent years the wood industry has had to deal with a number of foreign trade defense investigations. Experience in handling these cases shows that the initiative of enterprises plays a very important role. Enterprises need to assess risks early to have appropriate business strategies and plans. In the process of handling cases, enterprises need to cooperate and provide complete, accurate and consistent data to the investigation agency. Enterprises also need to make maximum efforts in the process of providing information because the amount of information and data requested by the investigation agency is very large while there is a time limit. However, these efforts can bring worthy results. It is not only about enterprises maintaining export markets but also having the opportunity to restructure the supply chain in a sustainable direction and increase the rate of using domestic raw materials.
Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, also shared his experiences in handling foreign trade defense investigations in the seafood industry. The seafood industry has been exposed to foreign trade defense investigations since early on, with the US anti-dumping investigations on pangasius and shrimp since 2002. Up to now, although these products continue to be subject to anti-dumping measures by the US, many Vietnamese enterprises have had a 0% tax rate and have maintained stable export volumes to the US market. This result was achieved thanks to the perseverance and initiative of enterprises, the activeness of the Association, and the support and coordination of state management agencies.
At the Forum, the representative of the Trade Defense Department said that under the close direction of the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade defense work will continue to be promoted with the goal of ensuring a healthy competitive environment, helping domestic manufacturing industries develop and create more added value for the economy. Trade defense investigations on imported goods will be conducted on the principles of fairness and transparency in accordance with legal regulations and international commitments. The Trade Defense Department will also accompany exporting enterprises in the process of handling foreign trade defense investigations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. In that spirit, in this Forum, the representative of the Trade Defense Department introduced to the business community a number of legal regulations on trade defense expected to be supplemented and amended in 2024, provided guidance on how businesses can submit and receive results of processing dossiers for trade defense cases in the electronic environment, and introduced and guided businesses in exploiting information and data of the early warning system.
Source: https://moit.gov.vn/tin-tuc/bao-chi-voi-nguoi-dan/dien-dan-phong-ve-thuong-mai-tang-cuong-nang-luc-noi-sinh-thuc-day-tang-truong-ben-vung.html
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