Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - As Vietnam joins moreinternational trade agreements, dealing with and overcoming trade defencemeasures has become a top priority for Vietnamese businesses, especially forthose working with markets known for their numerous and robust defenceinstruments such as the US and the EU.

Vietnamese shrimp exporters received good news as the USDepartment of Commerce (DOC) announced their conclusion regarding anti-dumpingtariffs on products from Vietnam with some 31 exporters exempt from the tariff,according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

Shrimp exports from Vietnam to the US reached 334 million USDin July, a 13.4 per cent increase from the same period last year. The DOC’sdecision has resulted in a boost of morale for Vietnamese exporters as well asinvestors’ confidence. It showed a well-coordinated effort among VASEP andexporters to meet all the DOC’s requirements on transparency and credibility.

Looking elsewhere, however, there have been signs of troubleas measures are being tightened in major markets for Vietnamese products suchas steel and fish.

For example, since the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect in December lastyear, steel exports to Canada, a member of the trade pact, climbed to 78million USD during the first six months of the year, almost three times thetotal value for the whole of 2018.

While the Vietnam Steel Association attributed the increasein exports to the CPTPP, which effectively reduces tariffs on Vietnameseproducts to zero, and claimed Vietnamese steel exporters do not participate intax evasion and dumping practices, Canada has started a process to make changesto trade defence measures.

Notably, Canada and the US have reached an agreement in whichCanada is committed to preventing the import of unfairly subsidised or dumpedsteel, as well as transhipment – foreign steel that moves through eithercountry to the other.

Against the backdrop of stricter defence measures, the TradeRemedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)advised Vietnamese exporters to review and revise their production and exportoutput to avoid potential anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.

It also issued a warning to Vietnamese steel exporters tosteer clear of and not support violations of product origin rules and tradefraud to avoid hurting the country’s trade and potential lawsuits.

A source from the MoIT said the ministry is handling seventrade defence-related cases since the beginning of the year with another sevenfrom last year.

Pham Thanh Nga from the Vietnam Society of International Lawsaid for the next three years after the CPTPP takes effect, Vietnamesebusinesses and products are to face increasingly rigorous trade defencemeasures.

“Countries may impose numerous defence instruments based onsuggestions from their domestic producers,” Nga said.

Commenting on the topic, Minister of Industry and Trade TranTuan Anh said businesses must take the initiative to conduct a comprehensivestudy of trade defence and safeguard measures, intellectual property rightprotection and technical barriers for their markets.-VNS/VNA