The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced the launch of an investigation into the avoidance of paying anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes on cold rolled steel (CRS) imported from Vietnam.
The decision was made based on petitions filed by US businesses on June 12, alleging that the Vietnamese CRS is the same with the product which is under tax levy and produced by hot rolled steel imported from the Republic of Korea (RoK).
The agency recommended Vietnamese exporters fully cooperate with the US investigation agencies while closely coordinating with the department during the process.
Earlier in 2016, the US slapped anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties, with the highest level of up to 93%, on CRS imported from South Korea.
The DOC will issue the final decision within 300 days since the initiation of the investigation, said the Trade Defence Department under the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The department recommended Vietnamese exporters fully attend and cooperate with the US investigation agencies during the process.
In May, the US slapped steep import duties on steel products from Vietnam that originated in China after finding they evaded US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy orders.
Specifically, US customs authorities will collect anti-dumping duties of 199.76% and countervailing duties of 256.44% on imports of cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate, the DOC said in a statement.
According to the Vietnam Steel Association, as of the end of March 2018, the country’s exports of finished steel products reached more than 1.43 million tons, with a turnover of more than US$1.04 million, up 38% in volume and 57% in value year-on-year.
ASEAN was still the major export market, with export volume of more than 834,000 tons of steel, accounting for more than 58% of the country’s total steel export volume.
