Viet Nam investigates imported colour-coated steel sheets

July 08, 2016 | 21:54

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The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a decision on Wednesday to launch a probe that would determine whether imports of colour-coated steel sheets had become excessive and caused harms to local production.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a decision on Wednesday to launch a probe that would determine whether imports of colour-coated steel sheets had become excessive and caused harms to local production. - Photo cafebiz.vn

The investigation was launched in response to a petition by Nghiem and Chinh Partnership Law Firm, which represents three local producers, Dại Thien Loc Joint Stock Company, Nam Kim Steel and Ton Đong A Company. The Viet Nam Competition Authority received the petition on May 24.

Under Decision 2847/QĐ-BCT, the investigation period to determine whether damages can be claimed will be from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2015.

The codes to be examined include HS 7210.7010, 7210.7090, 7212.4010 and 7212.4020, as well as 7212.4090, 7225.9990, 7226.9919 and 7226.9999.

The ministry, in the decision, said based on the figures provided by the petitioner, it found that there were signs of significant increases in the import of colour-coated steel sheets in the 2013-15 period.

This was alleged to have led to declines in production, market share, revenue, profit and productivity for local producers while their inventories rose.

The ministry said temporary safeguard duties could be put into force before the investigation concluded if it found that the slow application of safeguard duties would cause severe harm to local production.

The ministry urged firms to consider the possibility of safeguard duties when signing contracts to import colour-coated steel sheets.

According to the Viet Nam Competition Authority, although the legal framework for trade defense instruments has been in force for more than a decade, the application remains modest.

To date, Viet Nam has initiated five investigations related to safeguards and two investigations of anti-dumping cases. No anti-subsidy investigation has been launched.

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