MoIT begins final remedies review for imported steel billets and bars

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has asked local producers to provide production and trade data of steel billets and bars so it begins the final remedies review of those products. - Photo tapchicongthuong.vn

On July 18, 2016, the ministry issued Decision 2968/QD-BCT to impose a global scale protection for steel billets and bars imported into Viet Nam. The term of the protection is four years between March 22, 2016 and March 21, 2020, without any extension.

On May 31, 2019, the trade remedies authority announced it would receive filings from steel companies that had asked for the review.

On July 1, 2019, four local steel producers asked the authority to do the end-of-term review of the protection on steel billets and steel bars.

Those companies are Hoa Phat Hai Duong Steel JSC, Southern Steel Company Ltd – VNSteel, Thu Duc Steel JSC and Bien Hoa Steel JSC.

On July 10, 2019, the four companies were asked to provide additional filings for the review as regulated. Added filings were confirmed valid on August 6.

The authority will assess the filings for 30 working days and submit them to the Minister of Industry and Trade to decide whether the investigation is carried out or not, it said in a statement on August 8.

The authority will review the filings to see if import volumes of steel billets and bars increased during the application of the trade protection.

In addition, the data of domestic steel production will be revealed and the review will show how much local firms have adjusted their capacities during the protection period.

Lastly, the authority will see the probability of the local steel industry to be threatened or dampened when the protection ends.

In order to make the best review and assure the benefits of local firms, the authority asked Vietnamese firms to provide data of their production and trade in 2016-18 and in the first half of 2019.

The deadline for information provision is August 15, 2019.