Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Thanks to free trade agreements withtariff barriers gradually being removed, the exports of Vietnamese products have been on the rise. However, they are likely to face trade defence lawsuits.
An early warning system for trade remedies is needed to helpensure sustainable trade development by helping businesses better respond topossible trade probes, heard a seminar on the issue held by Industry andTrade Magazine on November 6.
Speaking at the event, Commercial Counsellor and head of the Vietnam TradeOffice in the US Do Ngoc Hung said that Vietnam is an important trade partnerof the US but also faces risks relating to trade remedies.
The number of trade defence probes that the US has applied toVietnam accounts for about 53% of the total number of trade defence casesagainst Vietnam's exported goods. Meanwhile, US businesses are very aware oftheir rights and tools when importing goods with high competitiveness that canharm the domestic manufacturing industry. They also know how to use traderemedies to protect their interests if being sued in their home market.
Moreover, not only the US Department of Commerce but otheragencies such as the International Trade Commission, US customs or borderguards can investigate trade defence cases.
As of October 2023, Vietnamese products were involved in up to58 trade defence cases in the US. The types of affected products are expandedand even not Vietnam's key export products.
Hung said that through market monitoring, it can be seen thatVietnamese exporters have paid more attention to trade defence cases as well asthe early warning system. They have fully participated and closely followedwarnings from the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Industry and Trade Magazine organises a talk on early warning system for trade defence on November 6. (Photo: VNA) Hung said the early warning system is very important because it createsconditions for businesses to learn about the US's legal regulations on trade remediesearly. In addition, thanks to the warning, businesses can start to prepare necessary resources to respond to possible lawsuits.
Once being sued, Vietnamese businesses will have to invest a lotof efforts and human, time and financial resources to participate throughout theinvestigation process of the case which usually costs about 12 months.
With proactive response, they can provide the US’sinvestigation agencies with proper documents in the correct format and on time, he said.
Director of the WTO Centre and Integration under the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Nguyen Thu Trang said that not onlyin the US but in all countries, trade defence lawsuits are a verycomplicated legal and technical process. Notably, most of the process must be done abroad, which addsdifficulties for businesses.
The early warning mechanism allows businesses to see risks andprepare for them, Trang said.
Chu Thang Trung, Deputy Director of the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam said that the ministry hasbeen working to increase businesses’ understanding about trade remedies.
With data from the early warning system, the ministry canconcentrate on products and industries that face a high risk of trade defenceprobes.
He informed that the MoIT plans to continue to expand thewarning system for other markets like Southeast Asia, and Turkey besides theUS, Canada and Australia./.
