Made-in-Vietnam steel products or those that use substrates from countries other than South Korea and Taiwan (China) are not subject to US latest duty of up to 456%, according to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Illustrative photo.

The MoIT requested local steel producers to fully cooperate with the US authority in this matter, while expecting the US Commerce Department to ensure the lawful rights of Vietnamese companies.

Recently, domestic steel producers have been revising their production methods and increasing purchasing input materials from local suppliers and different sources, as well as building a management system for origin verification, said the MoIT.

On Monday, the US Commerce Department said it had issued a final order imposing duties of up to 456% on certain steel products from South Korea or Taiwan that are shipped to Vietnam for minor processing and then exported to the US.

“The Commerce will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to continue to collect antidumping duty and countervailing duty cash deposits on imports of corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) and cold-rolled steel (CRS) produced in Vietnam using Korean- or Taiwanese-origin substrate. These duties apply to any unliquidated entries since August 2, 2018, the date on which Commerce initiated these circumvention inquiries,” stated the department.

Following the announcement, the specific cash deposit rates would depend on the origin of the substrate and the type of steel product exported to the US, said the department.

Statistics from the US Commerce Department revealed shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the US increased from US$22 million (in the 40-month period of September 2012 until preliminary duties imposed on South Korean and Taiwanese products in December 2015) to US$940 million (40-month period from imposition of preliminary duties in January 2016 until April 2019), which is an increase of 4,096%.

Additionally, shipments of CRS from Vietnam to the US increased from US$49 million (in the 38-month period of January 2013 until preliminary duties imposed on South Korean and Taiwanese products in February 2016) to US$498 million (38-month period from imposition of preliminary duties in March 2016 until April 2019), which is an increase of 922%.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association, the US market currently accounts for 6.5% of Vietnam’s steel exports, while ASEAN has been the largest market for Vietnamese steel, buying 65% of Vietnamese steel exports.