US steel firms say Chinese evaded tax via VN

HÀ NỘI — Two US steelmakers have requested the US Department of Commerce (DOC) check whether China is circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties on cold-rolled steel coils and corrosion-resistant sheets by processing hot-rolled coil in Viet Nam.

The Việt Nam Competition Authority (VCA) last week announced that California Steel Industries (CSI) and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) filed petitions complaining of unfairly traded imports of corrosion-resistant carbon steel and cold-rolled carbon steel from China.

In June 2015, the USDOC imposed an anti-dumping tax of 199.43 per cent and a subsidy rate of 241.43 per cent. The decision was made after the US conducted an investigation on imported steel from China, among other countries and territories.

The US producers contend that immediately after the DOC imposed duties on these imports, Chinese producers began to divert merchandise through Viet Nam for completion prior to export to the US to evade duties.   

Exports of the products from China to the US sharply decreased while those from Việt Nam surged.

The companies asked the DOC to investigate and halt payments for the cold-rolled steel coils and corrosion-resistant sheets imported from Việt Nam. They also proposed requiring deposits for the shipments equal to the anti-dumping tax and subsidy rate applied to Chinese products.

The VCA said based on US law, the DOC would consider decide to investigate or not within 45 days from the receipt of the petitions. Any investigation must be completed within 300 days.

Statistics from Việt Nam’s General Department of Customs showed that in the first eight months of the year, steel imports reached 12.36 million tonnes, a 25 per cent year-on-year increase. Imports from China hit 7.3 million tonnes, increasing 22 per cent from the same period last year.

Thailand imposes Việt Nam’s steel

Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) has issued a final decision on anti-dumping taxes on stainless steel pipes and tubes imported from several countries, including Việt Nam, VCA has said.

An anti-dumping tariff of 310.74 per cent was imposed on stainless steel pipes and tubes from Việt Nam.

The investigation began in September 2015.

Domestic steel producers said the tariff was too high for Vietnamese firms to export to Thailand.

The General Department of Customs said Việt Nam’s steel exports to Thailand in the first eight months of the year reached above 113,000 tonnes with total value of $74 million, reducing 59 per cent and 50 per cent in terms of quantity and value compared to the same period last year. -- VNS