US-China trade war to exert pressure on local production: official

Hanoi, August 9 (VNA) – Domestic production has faced strong competition as the US and China are increasing exports to Vietnam on the back of their escalating trade war, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam Le Trieu Dung said on August 9.

At a meeting with Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh on the day, Dung said the US-China trade conflict becomes more intense after the North American country announced to impose additional tariff of 10 percent on the remaining 300 billion USD of goods and products coming from China to the US, and sees China as “currency manipulator”.

This will result in considerable competition among local producers, and there is a strong possibility that shipments originating from Vietnam will face protective trade measures in many other nations. It will be a great challenge for the Vietnamese economy as the US and China could step up efforts to prevent trade fraud of origin and tax avoidance, Dung stressed.

While many nations, including Vietnam, are accelerating trade liberisation through joining various free trade agreements, protectionism is increasing in many others. Their protective policies are used as a tool to prevent imports and, therefore, Vietnamese products must satisfy a set of strict requirements in order to enter those markets.

Dung also described a lack of understanding of trade prevention process as a major challenge to many Vietnamese enterprises. In stark contrast, the foreign-invested sector has rational strategies in response to preventive measures of foreign nations.

He said his office will continue to keep close watch on the trade tension between the US and China so as to reduce impact of the two countries’ trade policies.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance suggested the establishment of an inspection group to find out businesses who are taking advantage of the situation to boost imports from the two markets.

For his part, minister Anh said Vietnam should stay prudent and have rational measures to respond to the trade war, and ordered competent authorities to boost coordination with the customs force to check items with sudden increase in import and export volume.-VNA