The Vietnamese Government has protestedthe US Department of Commerce (DOC)-conducted investigations intocountervailing duty on imports of products from Vietnam whileconsidering the country as a non-market economy, the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade’s Competitiveness Department said.
According to a preliminary decision announced on Aug. 31, afterconducting its first countervailing duty investigations relating toVietnam’s retail polyethylene carrier bags (plastic bags), the DOCconcluded that there is subsidisation of the item.
The three mandatory respondents Advance Polybag, Chin Sheng Co. Ltd.and Fotai Vietnam Enterprise Corp., were imposed with anti-subsidyduties of 0.2 percent, 1.69 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively.Other exporters from Vietnam received a preliminary subsidy rate of2.97 percent.
The DOC investigation was not in line with the previous ruling issuedby the US Federal Court of Appeals, Director of the CompetitivenessDepartment Bach Van Mung told Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on Sept. 15.
Based on documents, data and arguments given by the Vietnamesegovernment and the three defendants, 16 of Vietnam’s 20 groups ofprogrammes and policies accused of subsidisation were removed from thescope of investigations by DOC, Mung said.
The programmes were ended when Vietnam joined the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) and in fact, they are not applied to any of themandatory respondents.
The DOC’s decision showed that the Vietnamese government always abidesby its commitments in international treaties and protects the legalrights and benefits of businesses in international trade activities,creating a healthy and reliable business and investment environment inVietnam, Mung added.
Though the DOC’s preliminary decision partly reflected that theoperations of Vietnam’s PE bag exporters are not subsidised by thegovernment, Vietnam needs to make greater efforts to contest theconclusion and provide more evidence to counter inaccurate pointsoutlined in the decision, Mung said.
The move aims to conclude that “the Vietnamese government does notsubsidise exporters, and even if it did, the subsidised rate is notworth considering and does not distort trade equality,” he stressed.
The decision obviously will have a “negative impact” on the export ofVietnamese PE bags and even cause “remarkable risk” for both Vietnameseexporters and US importers, the official said.
He also recommended exporters diversify their products and markets,devise long-term business strategies and invest in technology tominimise the risk of the dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits of importingcountries.
Also, Vietnamese exporters need to learn about their markets as well astheir legal regulations to actively cope with unexpected issues, Mungadded./.
According to a preliminary decision announced on Aug. 31, afterconducting its first countervailing duty investigations relating toVietnam’s retail polyethylene carrier bags (plastic bags), the DOCconcluded that there is subsidisation of the item.
The three mandatory respondents Advance Polybag, Chin Sheng Co. Ltd.and Fotai Vietnam Enterprise Corp., were imposed with anti-subsidyduties of 0.2 percent, 1.69 percent and 4.25 percent, respectively.Other exporters from Vietnam received a preliminary subsidy rate of2.97 percent.
The DOC investigation was not in line with the previous ruling issuedby the US Federal Court of Appeals, Director of the CompetitivenessDepartment Bach Van Mung told Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on Sept. 15.
Based on documents, data and arguments given by the Vietnamesegovernment and the three defendants, 16 of Vietnam’s 20 groups ofprogrammes and policies accused of subsidisation were removed from thescope of investigations by DOC, Mung said.
The programmes were ended when Vietnam joined the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) and in fact, they are not applied to any of themandatory respondents.
The DOC’s decision showed that the Vietnamese government always abidesby its commitments in international treaties and protects the legalrights and benefits of businesses in international trade activities,creating a healthy and reliable business and investment environment inVietnam, Mung added.
Though the DOC’s preliminary decision partly reflected that theoperations of Vietnam’s PE bag exporters are not subsidised by thegovernment, Vietnam needs to make greater efforts to contest theconclusion and provide more evidence to counter inaccurate pointsoutlined in the decision, Mung said.
The move aims to conclude that “the Vietnamese government does notsubsidise exporters, and even if it did, the subsidised rate is notworth considering and does not distort trade equality,” he stressed.
The decision obviously will have a “negative impact” on the export ofVietnamese PE bags and even cause “remarkable risk” for both Vietnameseexporters and US importers, the official said.
He also recommended exporters diversify their products and markets,devise long-term business strategies and invest in technology tominimise the risk of the dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits of importingcountries.
Also, Vietnamese exporters need to learn about their markets as well astheir legal regulations to actively cope with unexpected issues, Mungadded./.
