Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) will coordinatewith the Ministry of Industry and Trade to protect the legitimate rights andinterests of local steelmakers who were recently accused of tax evasion by theUS Department of Commerce (DOC).

The decision, made by the DOC last week, would involve the imposition ofanti-dumping measures and anti-subsidy rates on corrosion-resistant (CORE) andcold-rolled steel from Vietnam.

In 2016, US steelmakers succeeded in persuading the DOC to impose anti-dumping(AD) and countervail (CV) duties on Chinese steel, which meant cold-rolledsteel from China would be subject to 265.79 percent AD and 256.44 percent CVduties when exported to the US.

AD and CV duties of 199.46 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively, wereapplied to corrosion-resistant steel from China.

DOC argued that Chinese products are being dumped in third-party countries,such as Vietnam, to circumvent these duties, leading to last week’s decision.

Although the product was only processed in Vietnam, the commerce departmentagreed with the claims of American producers that as much as 90 per cent of theproduct’s value originated from China.

Following the case, VSA said it was working with the Department of TradeDefence under the Ministry of Industry and Trade to follow developmentsrelating to the ruling and to take the necessary measures in defense of localsteelmakers in accordance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.

According to the VSA, the process of making corrosion-resistant or cold-rolledsteel by Vietnamese businesses is a crucial step in the closed-loopmanufacturing of high-quality flat steel bars, with factories in Vietnam receivinginvestment to the tune of hundreds of millions of US dollars.

The cold-rolling process generates between 30 and 40 percent added value toimported hot-rolled coil from China, the VSA argues, dismissing the claim by USauthorities that the vast majority of the value of Vietnamese steel originatesin China.

In addition, the association said, the US had yet to put a regulation in placeregarding the required added value content of exports from Vietnam, making itdifficult for Vietnamese steelmakers affected by the decision to respond.

In a release on its website, DOC said importers and exporters of Vietnamesemerchandise that is produced from substrate originating in Vietnam or a thirdcountry have the option of seeking an exemption from cash deposits bycertifying that the substrate originated outside of China.

DOC statistics showed that shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the US increasedfrom 2 million USD to 80 million USD after preliminary duties were imposed onChinese products in 2015.

Likewise, shipments of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam to the US climbed from 9million USD to 215 million USD after the duties were imposed.

DOC is currently scheduled to announce its final determinations in theseinquiries on February 16, 2018.

The case was initiated in September when US steel producers, includingArcelorMittal USA, Nucor Corp, AK Steel Holdings Corp and Steel Corp, filedlawsuits in which they claimed Chinese steel producers shipped products via ViệtNam to evade tariffs.

In November, the European Union’s anti-fraud office said it found Chinese steelwas shipped through Vietnam to evade the bloc’s tariffs.-VNA