Focus on organizing law enforcement on trade defense

Affirming strategic role, ensuring fair competitive environment

Implementing the Party and State's policy of multilateralization and diversification of international relations, along with proactive and active international economic integration, Vietnam has gradually and firmly integrated into the regional and global economy. Vietnam became an ASEAN member in 1995; then officially became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end of 2006, gradually participating in many Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including comprehensive new-generation FTAs ​​with deep and wide commitments such as CPTPP, EVFTA, etc.

The Trade Defense Department will continue to support Vietnamese export enterprises in handling foreign trade defense investigations. Photo: Hoa Phat

In the process of international economic integration, Vietnam's import and export have fundamentally changed, achieving many very important achievements. Along with the rapid growth of foreign trade, two legitimate needs have emerged. First of all, the need to protect our export enterprises in foreign markets when they are sued for dumping or subsidy. Along with that, the need to use trade defense measures as a tool to ensure a fair environment for domestically produced goods when imported goods enter the Vietnamese market.

During this process, the Ministry of Industry and Trade assessed that trade defense work has affirmed its strategic role, ensuring a fair competitive environment in the process of international economic integration, helping domestic manufacturing industries develop in both foreign and domestic markets. Accordingly, from a completely new field, in recent years, trade defense work has achieved remarkable development, both in terms of policy system, law, and organizational apparatus.

Specifically, since the Law on Foreign Trade Management officially took effect in 2018, the legal basis for trade defense work has been fully systematized. In particular, an important milestone is the Trade Defense Investigation Agency - Trade Defense Department was established in 2017 to focus on enforcing legal regulations on trade defense.

Accordingly, the Department of Trade Remedies is an organization under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, performing the function of advising and assisting the Minister of Industry and Trade in state management and law enforcement on trade remedies, including the fields of anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and self-defense; preventing evasion of trade remedy measures; organizing and managing public service activities in the fields and scope of management of the Department according to the provisions of law and decentralization and authorization of the Minister.

Since its establishment, the Trade Defense Department has made efforts and proactively performed its advisory function, assisting the Minister of Industry and Trade in state management and law enforcement on trade defense, including the fields of anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and self-defense; and preventing evasion of trade defense measures.

Since then, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has initiated investigations into 28 trade defense cases and applied 22 measures to imported goods. In the first 6 months of 2024, the investigation and review of specific trade defense cases has been carried out, including: Continuing to investigate and review 7 cases initiated in 2023; initiating an investigation into 1 new case; receiving and processing 7 new investigation and review requests.

Currently, there are 4 trade defense measures in effect on imported steel products and 1 trade defense measure on steel-related products (welding materials) and 2 cases under investigation related to prestressed steel cables and wind power towers. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is conducting a final review of the application of anti-dumping measures on cold-rolled stainless steel products (AD01) and color-coated steel (AD04) to assess the effectiveness of the measures as well as the possibility of extending the measures for another 5 years. It is expected that the review results of these 2 cases will be available in October 2024.

By applying appropriate trade defense measures in accordance with international commitments, domestic industries are protected from unfair competition, thereby creating conditions for domestic industries to develop, creating more jobs and added value for the economy. From a consumer perspective, long-term trade defense measures help the economy not to be completely dependent on imports, bringing stability and better resilience to external impacts and shocks.

In particular, in many cases, the application of trade defense on basic materials also helps increase the ability to take advantage of commitments in free trade agreements, while reducing the risk of Vietnam being investigated by foreign countries for evading trade defense measures because we have been proactive and protected the source of domestically produced raw materials. In addition, applied trade defense measures have contributed thousands of billions of VND in tax revenue to the state budget.

Implement international commitments, protect the legitimate interests of Vietnamese enterprises

With a proactive and active policy of comprehensive and deep international integration, in which the economy is the leading field, Vietnam has increasingly connected more closely to the global production network and value chain. Export turnover increased by an average of 11.3% in the five years 2018 - 2022 and reached 355.5 billion USD in 2023, making Vietnam the 17th country globally in terms of export turnover and capacity.

However, as export turnover increases rapidly, some Vietnamese export products also face greater risks, becoming the subject of foreign trade defense investigations. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as of June 2024, Vietnamese exports have faced 252 trade defense investigations from 24 markets and territories. Of which, anti-dumping investigations (138 cases) are at the top, followed by self-defense investigations (50 cases), anti-circumvention of trade defense measures (37 cases) and anti-subsidy investigations (27 cases).

Recently, not only key export products such as wood and wood products, seafood, footwear, textiles, iron and steel, etc. have been investigated, but also products with smaller export turnover such as honey, ceramic tiles, cigarette paper, etc. have been investigated for trade defense.

Although in principle, trade defense measures are a tool to ensure a fair competitive environment between imported goods and domestically produced goods, if foreign trade defense investigations are not handled properly, the trade defense tax rate applied to Vietnam's exports will be pushed up too high, reducing market share and even losing the market.

Therefore, the Trade Defense Department has actively and proactively supported exporting enterprises in handling foreign trade defense investigations through consulting activities to guide enterprises on investigation procedures, ways to provide information to meet the requirements of the investigation agency and closely monitor the investigation process to ensure that the importing country complies with the requirements on trade defense investigations in international commitments, thereby protecting the legitimate interests of Vietnamese enterprises.

Along with that, the early warning work has been proactively and regularly deployed by the Department of Trade Defense. Specifically, in order to respond to trade defense investigations, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, including the Department of Trade Defense, has updated the warning list of goods at risk of being investigated for trade defense and preventing trade defense evasion and sent it to the Ministries, branches, People's Committees of provinces, Associations, and related enterprises for coordination and monitoring. In addition, the early warning work as well as supporting enterprises in responding to trade defense cases initiated by foreign countries investigating Vietnam's export goods in recent times has brought about some positive results.

Thanks to that, up to now, in many foreign trade defense investigations, the results for Vietnamese export enterprises have been positive, helping to maintain and stabilize the export market even when trade defense measures are applied (for items such as shrimp, tra-basa fish, some steel products, MDF wood panels, etc.), especially exports to major markets such as the United States, the European Union (EU), Australia, Canada, Southeast Asian countries, etc.

In the coming time, the Department of Trade Defense will focus on implementing the following key tasks:

Firstly , perfecting the legal system on trade defense by developing and submitting to the Government for promulgation a Decree replacing Decree 10/2018/ND-CP based on summarizing the practical work of trade defense in the past 5 years.

Second , complete two new trade defense investigations and five reviews of existing trade defense measures in the annual work plan in a fair and transparent manner, carefully assessing all factors and complying with current regulations. If these investigations and reviews lead to the application of a trade defense measure, that measure must be applied to the right subjects, at the right level, protecting domestic industries while taking into account socio-economic impacts.

Third , continue to support Vietnamese export enterprises in handling foreign trade defense investigations. In this work, two important tasks are handling the case of the United States considering recognizing Vietnam as a market economy and operating an early warning system to provide early and remote warning information about export items at risk of being investigated by foreign countries for trade defense.

Fourth , carry out activities to improve trade defense capacity for the business community in specific industries and in specific localities to enhance businesses' understanding of trade defense work, so that businesses can proactively handle foreign trade defense investigations as well as know how to use legal trade defense tools to protect the legitimate interests of their industry and their businesses.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/cuc-phong-ve-thuong-mai-tap-trung-to-chuc-thuc-thi-phap-luat-ve-phong-ve-thuong-mai-345866.html