Hanoi (VNA) – Improving competitive capacity to expand export marketsand understanding of international trade regulations are significant forVietnamese steel firms to respond to trade defence lawsuits in the context ofgrowing protectionism, said Chairman of Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) HoNghia Dung.

Vietnamese steel industry has faced rough seas recently when it has to dealwith anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures from such countries as the US,Canada, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Statistics from the VSA showed that local steel products were the target of 30anti-dumping lawsuits among 124 trade remedy lawsuits against Vietnameseexports in 2017.

Most recently, the Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee announced the applicationof anti-dumping measures on colour-coated steel sheet imports from Vietnam,with tariffs ranging from 12.01 percent to 28.49 percent on the products forfive years.

In June, some US steel producers lodged a request to the Department of Commerce(DOC) to ask for investigations into and application of measures to prevent theevasion of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax against corrosion-resistant carbonsteel imported from Vietnam.

Chairman Dung said that tariff barriers hamper the export of Vietnamese steelas steel products become less competitive in foreign markets.

“In 2016, Vietnam shipped over 900,000 tonnes of steel to the US; however, theamount fell to 500,000 tonnes in 2017. Actually, exports are affected not onlyafter taxes are levied but also when initiation of anti-dumping dutyinvestigation is launched,” Dung said.

Officials from the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under theMinistry of Industry and Trade recommended local businesses to diversify exportmarkets and products while improving product quality and relying less onprice-based competition.

According to Nguyen Thanh Trung, General Director of the Dong A Steel JSC, hiscompany has invested in advanced technology to produce top quality products as themain solution to respond to safeguard measures taken by foreign countries.

Vietnam’s steel industry has considerable potential to reach a productiongrowth rate of 22 percent and expand export markets this year. As of April,2018, Vietnam shipped 1.9 million tonnes of steel products abroad and earnedmore than 1.4 billion USD in revenue, year-on-year surges of 43 percent and 61percent in volume and value, respectively.

The ASEAN remained the key export market as it consumed 1.1 million tonnes ofVietnamese steel, making up over 57 percent of total exports. It was followedby the US (15.2 percent), the EU (10 percent), the Republic of Korea (4.1percent), and Taiwan (3.3 percent).-VNA