Vietnam’s export goods face more trade remedies in the process of deep economic integration, so the Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed solutions for the situation.

Processing tra fish at a seafood company in Dong Thap province

The ministry reported as of September this year, about 200 cases of trade remedies were implemented on Vietnam’s exports. Of which, there were 32 cases in the first nine months of this year, doubling the number in the whole of 2019.

These cases were mainly for metals (aluminium, flat steel bars and steel pipes), fibres, seafood (shrimp and fish), plywood, construction materials (bricks, glass and sanitary ware), and chemical products.

Foreign countries and territories that have regularly implemented trade remedy investigations on Vietnam's exports include the US, India, the EU, Turkey, Canada and Australia. These countries make up 62% of the total 200 trade remedy cases on Vietnam's exports. In recent years, ASEAN countries have also started investigations to apply trade remedies on Vietnamese products, with 38 cases, accounting for about 20%.

Therefore, the ministry has promoted support for manufacturing industries and export enterprises to respond to the trade remedy lawsuits. These ensure their legitimate rights and interests in international trade activities and contribute to reaching the export growth target.

The ministry has regularly updated the list of goods that are at risk of trade remedies and origin fraud measures. It has helped state management agencies strengthen supervision and implement suitable measures.

It has recommended local businesses actively develop plans for production and business, and handling trade remedy lawsuits, while it has provided up-to-date information about the cases.

When a trade remedy case for a Vietnamese product is initiated, the ministry has offered support relating to the case for businesses, especially legal issues.

At the same time, it has coordinated with relevant ministries, sectors and provincial people's committees on investigation questionnaires as measures to support local enterprises in the lawsuits.

With these efforts, according to the ministry, Vietnam has witnessed success in many trade remedy lawsuits, meaning tax was not imposed or trade defence measures were halted in 65 cases.

The ministry has recommended that to minimise negative impacts of trade remedies, the manufacturing and export industries and Vietnamese enterprises need to diversify their markets and improve competition in terms of quality. The businesses also need to incorporate response to trade remedies in their production and business strategy, especially export activities.

The enterprises must have basic knowledge of regulations on trade remedies and keep updated on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s information about this issue when exporting their products to other countries. They must strictly comply with the rules of origin certification.