According to the MoIT, the DoC has notified the exemption if Vietnamese steel export enterprises prove that the exported products are made from material not using Chinese-origin substrate.MoIT said it would continue to coordinate with relevant businesses to meet the requirements of the DoC procedures to receive exemptions as prescribed.
ASEAN was the major export market of Vietnam’s steel products
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US customs authorities will collect anti-dumping duties of 199.76 percent and countervailing duties of 256.44 percent on imports of cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate, DoC said in a statement.
Corrosion-resistant steel from Vietnam faces anti-dumping duties of 199.43 percent and anti-subsidy duties of 39.05 percent, it said.
The department has said it would apply the same Chinese anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rates on corrosion-resistant and cold-rolled steel from Vietnam that starts out as Chinese-made hot-rolled steel.
The duties will come in addition to a 25 percent tariff on most steel imported into the United States that resulted from the Trump administration’s “Section 232” national security investigation into steel and aluminum imports.
MoIT has cooperated with the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) and relevant businesses to closely monitor the case since the beginning of the investigation starting November 2016.
The ministry has repeatedly expressed its views on the case to the United States and asked the DoC to conduct an objective investigation in accordance with World Trade Organization rules and US practice.
Meanwhile, VSA and Vietnamese steel makers have worked closely with the United States to clarify the origin of raw material and processes of steel production in Vietnam.
According to VSA, its members produced more than 3.69 million tons and sold nearly 3.86 million tons of crude steel in the first four months of this year. Finished steel products reached over 7.59 million tons, up 23.1 percent over the same period in 2017 and up 41.7 percent over the same period of 2016.
A total of nearly 6.7 million tons of all types of steel were sold, up 35.2 percent over for the same period in 2017 and 38.8 percent compared to four months of 2016. The production of construction steel alone reached nearly 3.2 million tons while more than three million tons were sold. The production and selling numbers of steel pipe were 742,000 tons and 735,000 tons, respectively.
As for export, according to VSA, as of the end of March 2018, exports of finished steel products reached more than 1.43 million tons, with a turnover of more than US$1.04 million, up 38 percent in volume and 57 percent in value.
ASEAN was still the major export market, with export volume of more than 834,000 tons of steel, accounting for more than 58 percent of the country’s total steel export volume.
Vice Chairman of Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) Nguyen Van Sua forecast that the steel industry will continue on its high growth trajectory of 20-22 percent this year) thanks to rising market demand.
The strongest growth will be seen in the production of hot-rolled steel with 154 percent, followed by welded steel pipe (15 percent), colored galvanized steel (12 percent), construction steel (10 percent), and cold-rolled steel (5 percent).
