Trade Remedies Forum: Strengthening endogenous capacity, promoting sustainable growth

On October 11, Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Industry and Trade) organized the first trade remedies forum with the theme: "Trade Remedies: Strengthening endogenous capacity, promoting sustainable growth" in Ho Chi Minh City. The forum was attended by leaders of the Trade Remedies Department, representatives of ministries, departments, and branches at the central and local levels, and many leaders of enterprises and associations.

In his opening speech at the Forum, Mr. Trinh Anh Tuan, Director of Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, emphasized the role of trade remedies in the context of economic integration with many fluctuations as today. Trade remedies tools such as anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard duties, when used appropriately, in accordance with legal regulations and international commitments, are contributing to supporting domestic manufacturing industries to develop sustainably in a fair competitive environment, thereby ensuring jobs and income for workers, while bringing added value to the economy and enhancing the capacity of domestic entrepreneurs. The appropriate handling of foreign trade remedies investigations on Vietnam's export goods has also helped many industries and businesses avoid the risks and negative impacts of trade remedies measures applied by export markets, thereby helping businesses maintain their markets and increasingly participate more deeply in regional and global value chains.

By the end of September 2024, Vietnam had conducted 30 trade remedies investigations and was maintaining the application of 22 trade remedies measures on imported goods. The total annual revenue of domestic manufacturing enterprises participating in trade remedies cases is estimated at 475 trillion dong. The number of direct employees working at enterprises is about 36,000 people. Annual budget revenue from trade remedies taxes is from 1,200 to 1,500 billion dong.

Assessing the effectiveness of trade remedies measures for the steel industry, Mr. Dinh Quoc Thai, General Secretary of the Vietnam Steel Association, emphasized that the steel industry is a highly competitive industry but there is always a global oversupply situation, so it is easy for foreign enterprises to sell at low prices to deal with inventory, especially during difficult periods in the export market. Therefore, steel is one of the industries with the largest number of trade remedies investigations, not only in Vietnam but also in the world. In recent years, thanks to trade remedies measures, the Vietnamese steel industry has had the opportunity to develop and compete fairly with imported goods in the domestic market. At the same time, the steel industry has also built a complete value chain from hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, and galvanized steel, with enough capacity to expand exports to other markets.

The sugar industry is also showing the positive impact of trade remedies measures. Mr. Tran Vinh Chung, General Secretary of the Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association, said that since anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes were applied to sugar imported from Thailand, domestic sugar production has increased from approximately 700,000 tons in the 2020-2021 crop year to nearly 1.2 million tons in the 2023-2024 crop year, an increase of 161%. The revenue of sugar factories has doubled in the same period. The impact of trade remedies measures is not only limited to the business results of sugar factories but also reflected in the improvement in the income of sugarcane farmers. The average sugarcane purchase price has increased from 850,000 d/ton of sugarcane in the 2020-2021 crop year to approximately VND 1.2 million/ton of sugarcane in the 2023-2024 crop year, an increase of 152%. Farmers have become more confident in sticking with sugarcane, and the sugarcane growing area continues to expand.

For export industries, the proper handling of trade remedies investigations has helped businesses take advantage of and maintain the results brought about by the international economic integration process. Up to now, Vietnam's exports have faced 263 trade remedies investigations from 25 markets. Of which, the leading cases are anti-dumping investigations (144 cases), followed by self-remedies cases (53 cases), anti-circumvention of trade remedies measures (38 cases) and anti-subsidy cases (28 cases).

Although the number of foreign trade remedies investigations against Vietnamese export goods tends to increase, thanks to the proactiveness of enterprises as well as the active support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies, many cases have achieved relatively positive results such as enterprises not being subject to trade remedies taxes or being subject to low taxes, thereby continuing to maintain the export market. According to Mr. Cao Xuan Thanh, Chief of Office of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, in recent years the wood industry has had to deal with a number of foreign trade remedies investigations. Experience in handling these cases shows that the proactiveness of enterprises plays a very important role. Enterprises need to assess risks early to have appropriate business strategies and plans. In the process of handling cases, enterprises need to cooperate and provide complete, accurate and consistent data to the investigation agency. Enterprises also need to make maximum efforts in the process of providing information because the amount of information and data requested by the investigating agency is very large while there is a time limit. However, these efforts can bring worthy results. It is not only about maintaining export markets but also having the opportunity to restructure the supply chain in a sustainable direction and increasing the rate of using domestic materials.

Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, also shared his experiences in handling foreign trade remedies investigations in the seafood industry. The seafood industry has been exposed to foreign trade remedies investigations since early on, with the US anti-dumping investigations on pangasius and shrimp since 2002. Up to now, although these products continue to be subject to anti-dumping measures by the US, many Vietnamese enterprises have had a 0% tax rate and have maintained stable export volumes to the US market. This result was achieved thanks to the perseverance and initiative of enterprises, the activeness of the Association, and the support and coordination of state management agencies. At the Forum, the representative of the Trade Remedies Authority said that under the close direction of the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade remedies work will continue to be promoted with the goal of ensuring a healthy competitive environment, helping domestic manufacturing industries develop and create more added value for the economy. Trade remedies investigations on imported goods will be conducted on the principles of fairness and transparency in accordance with legal regulations and international commitments. The Trade Remedies Authority will also accompany exporting enterprises in the process of handling foreign trade remedies investigations to protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. In that spirit, in this Forum, representatives of the Trade Remedies Authority introduced to the business community a number of legal regulations on trade remedies expected to be supplemented and amended in 2024, provided guidance on how businesses can submit and receive results of processing dossiers for trade remedies cases in the electronic environment, and introduced and guided businesses in exploiting information and data of the early warning system./.