Illustrative image (Photo: eatthis.com) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)has imposed provisional anti-dumping measures on some monosodium glutamate (MSG) products from Chinaand Indonesia.
Accordingly, MSG imports from China and Indonesiawill be subject to an absolute tax rate of between 2,889,245 VND (123.8 USD atcurrent exchange rate) and 6,385,289 VND (273.59 USD) per tonne.
The MOIT began an investigation in October 2019 basedon the verification of a dossier requesting the application of anti-dumpingmeasures submitted by representatives of the domestic production sector.
Througha preliminary investigation in accordance with regulations of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO), the Law on Foreign Trade Management and relatedregulations, the ministry assessed the damage to the domestic productionsector, the dumping level of Chinese and Indonesian producers as well as theimpacts of MSG products on downstream industries and consumers.
Theinvestigation found that, despite safeguard measures in the form of an absolutetax rate at 3,201,039 VND (137.16 USD) per tonne, MSG imports following the applicationof safeguard tariffs showed signs of being dumped in large volumes, from 2.88million VND (123.4 USD) per tonne to over 6.3 million VND (269.94 USD) pertonne, regarding imports from China and Indonesia, corresponding to a maximum dumpingmargin of up to 28 percent.
Thislevel of dumping indicates that the imported goods are threatening to causesignificant damage to the domestic MSG industry.
Accordingto the ministry, since 2016, some countries had been experiencing excess supplies,with increasing inventories resulting in stronger exports to other countries,including Vietnam.
Thishas contributed to hampering the activities of the domestic production sectordue to the sharp increase of goods imported into Vietnam. Furthermore, Vietnamis the second largest export market of China and the fourth largest ofIndonesia.
Therefore,when the safeguard tariffs expire, goods from these two markets will beexported to the Vietnamese market with a much bigger volume, which couldpossibly damage the domestic industry.
Inaddition, MSG products from China and Indonesia are subject to anti-dumpingmeasures from the US and European Union, which will prompt Chinese exporters toseek alternative markets, including Vietnam.
Tomake a final conclusion on the case, the MoIT will continue to work withstakeholders to verify statistics and hold a public consultation session forall parties involved. At the same time, the ministry will evaluate the overallimpact of the case on the parties concerned, including the final consumer.
Theinvestigation is expected to end in the fourth quarter of 2020./.
VNA
