Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese steel producers should follow laws andrequirements on origin when exporting their products to the United States,suggested Ho Nghia Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association.

Dung made the advice after the US Department of Commerce(DoC) decided to levy import tax on steel produced in Vietnam usingChinese-origin substrate.

Statistics showed that the Vietnam’s steel exports to the USwere reduced from more than 900,000 tonnes in 2016 to 500,000 tonnes in 2017.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue tocollect anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) cash deposits onimports of corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) produced in Vietnam usingChinese-origin substrate at the rate of 199.43 percent and 39.05 percent,respectively.

CBP will also collect AD and CVD cash deposits on imports ofcold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at therate of 199.76 percent and 256.44 percent, respectively. Dung said the Vietnam’ssteel exports to the US will be sharply reduced with the decision.

After the DoC’s decision, VSA’s members have been quick toseek material for steel production from other countries or local ones insteadof importing from China.

He said a big amount of hot rolled steel – the material forcolour coated steel and galvanised steel production - was provided into themarket after Formosa came into operation.

The amount of imported steel from China in the first quarterof the year was 1.1 million tonnes, half as much from the same period last yearand a 29 percent decrease in term of value.

The US, however, is still the third largest steel importerof Vietnam despite of the tax levy. In the first three months of the year, theamount of steel exports to the US reached 217,000 tonnes, accounting for 15percent of Vietnam’s total steel exports.

The chairman said the country’s steel sector has seen stronggrowth of construction steel and flat steel. Vietnam has been able to produceconstruction steel products, from ore, steel scrap to hot rolled steel.Previously, Vietnam had to import hot rolled steel from foreign countriesincluding China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

VSA said they cooperated with ministries, sectors andbusinesses to clarify two issues relating to DoC’s investigation on steelproduced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate.

They said that not all Vietnamese steel originates fromChina. In addition, Vietnam has been investing in large and modern scales offinal production stages to produce galvanised and cold rolled steel.

The latest information from the Vietnamese Ministry ofIndustry and Trade (MoIT) revealed that the DoC will remove the tax levy onVietnamese steel exporters if they prove that their products were not usedmaterial from China.

The ministry will continue to cooperate with relevant steelproducers to resolve the requirements from the DoC.

Chu Thang Trung, deputy director of the ministry’sDepartment of Trade Defence, said they suggested producers study and meetconditions from the DoC to be exempted from the tax levy.

The ministry has closely cooperated with VSA and businessesto follow the case from the initiating of the investigation in June 2016.

MoIT asked the DoC to implement investigations objectivelyand in line with WTO’s regulations as well as the US’s norms. They also askedthe DoC not to impose the tax on Vietnamese steel exporters.

VSA and Vietnamese steel producers have also closely worked withthe US side to clarify the material origin for steel production in Vietnam. —VNA