Import and export of goods at Chu Lai port. Illustrative photo: Ha Phuong

The trend of stricter investigation

Information at the trade promotion conference with the Vietnamese Trade Office System abroad, on September 30, a representative of the Department of Trade Defense (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that current trade defense measures include anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and self-defense. In some countries such as the United States, a fourth tool is also used, "anti-trade defense tax evasion measures", to prevent acts of changing the origin of exported goods subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes to "evade" taxes.

According to Ms. Truong Thuy Linh, Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Defense, in the period 2001 - 2011, the number of foreign cases investigating and applying trade defense measures to Vietnam's exports only stopped at 50. But since then, the number of trade defense cases has increased by 209 cases. 2020 is the year with the most trade defense cases, with 39 cases. Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Trade Defense has been handling 15 new cases. Among the trade defense cases, anti-dumping is 141 cases, accounting for the largest number of 55%, followed by self-defense and anti-subsidy. However, according to the representative of the Trade Defense Department, this ratio may change because in the past 1-2 years, the number of self-defense investigations has increased significantly and we are often subject to double investigations, meaning that the same product is subject to both anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations.

In addition to the increasing number of cases, the Trade Defense Department assessed that foreign investigations of Vietnamese goods have emerged with characteristics such as the increasingly expanding investigation market. In addition to the fact that most of the major traditional export markets have initiated investigations of Vietnamese goods, the number of cases conducted by ASEAN countries has also increased and some countries and territories that have never investigated or rarely investigated Vietnamese goods, such as Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan (China) have also begun investigating Vietnam. The scope of investigated products is increasingly diverse. Not limited to items with large export turnover such as shrimp, pangasius, steel, wood, solar panels, etc., but expanded to products with medium and small export value and volume such as lawn mowers, honey, paper plates, staplers, etc.

Notably, the trend towards more rigorous investigation. Foreign investigation agencies are increasingly making high demands in many aspects on the Government and investigated enterprises regarding: response time, request for additional information, difficulty in requesting extensions, etc. Moreover, the scope of the investigation is increasingly expanding, including new contents such as product scope investigation, investigation against evasion of trade defense measures.

"Trade defense tax rates may be pushed up due to market economy issues. Because some countries such as the United States have not recognized Vietnam as a market economy, they use the costs of a third country to calculate normal value in anti-dumping cases," said a representative of the Department of Trade Defense.

Risks always exist

Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States, informed that the United States has been Vietnam's largest export market in recent years and is also the market with the most trade defense investigations for Vietnamese exports. The total number of trade defense cases investigated by this country against Vietnamese goods is about 60. From the beginning of 2024, the US will initiate an average of one case per month, not counting annual reviews, the US will also review about 20 cases.

According to Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, being investigated for trade defense in general and anti-subsidy investigation in particular is a risk that always exists with the increase in export turnover. The representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States also noted that the United States is currently strengthening its trade defense tools through the issuance of a series of regulations that make investigations more complicated, consume a lot of human resources, and are not beneficial for export enterprises in the coming time. For example, regulations related to cross-border subsidies; the level of compliance with environmental and labor standards; as well as the issue of green growth. According to Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, the most important thing is that enterprises need to be ready to respond and handle incidents when they occur, ensure full and close cooperation, and provide information promptly to the investigation agency in order to achieve the best possible results. According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, Canada has initiated 19 trade defense investigations into Vietnamese exports, including 12 anti-dumping cases, 5 anti-subsidy cases and 2 defense cases, including a new anti-dumping case arising in March 2024. Of the 19 cases related to Vietnam, 8 are still subject to trade defense measures or are under investigation or re-investigation for extension.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada informed that when investigating a product, Canada often considers the import flow from all related countries, even if the export volume may be insignificant. In addition, when targeted, products are investigated for both anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Therefore, the Trade Office also recommends that Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises monitor warning information, grasp trends and situations of trade defense cases related to their manufactured goods, including those of other countries, and when being investigated, actively cooperate to provide information to avoid being subject to high taxes.

Therefore, according to the Trade Defense Department, in the face of the fact that lawsuits in the field of trade defense will increase in the coming time, the representative of the Trade Defense Department also requested that the Vietnamese Trade Office abroad continue to support the provision of information; early warning of goods at risk of being investigated for trade defense; support clarification of the investigation regulations of the Government of the importing country; support the presentation of the opinions and views of the Vietnamese Government on the views and conclusions of the investigating agency; and support consultation or filing a lawsuit at the WTO in cases where the foreign investigating agency violates WTO regulations and the domestic agency cannot arrange to participate.