VN investigates effect of steel sheet imports

The investigation was launched in response to a petition by Nghiêm and Chính Partnership Law Firm, which represents three local producers, Đại Thiên Lộc Joint Stock Company, Nam Kim Steel and Tôn Đông Á Company. The Việt 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 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 Việt 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, Việt Nam has initiated five investigations related to safeguards and two investigations of anti-dumping cases. No anti-subsidy investigation has been launched.