The deeper international economic integration, the more trade defense lawsuits increase

Deputy Head of the Central Communication Department Phan Xuan Thuy speaks at the conference.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in recent years, the number of foreign trade defense cases against Vietnamese exports has increased. If in the period 2005 - 2010 there were only 25 cases, in the period from 2011 - 2015 there were 53 cases. In particular, the period from 2016 to September 2021 has increased to 109 cases.

Speaking at the conference on disseminating information on fair trade for press agencies organized by the Central Communication Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the morning of November 19, 2021, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said the number of anti-circumvention cases targeting exports from Vietnam is showing signs of increasing.

Some countries believe that goods exported from Vietnam use main materials imported from areas where they are applying trade remedies.

Deputy Minister Tran Quoc Khanh said that since Vietnam joined Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), the trade remedy issue has had a strong impact on the production and export of goods. This is an inevitable consequence of each country in the process of opening its economy, integrating with the external market, associated with balanced interests in international economic integration.

"Many export products of Vietnam have created great competitive pressure in the markets of importing countries, prompting the manufacturing industries of these countries to request the Government to investigate and apply trade remedies," said a leader of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In the opposite direction, in recent years, Vietnam has started to actively use trade remedies with imported goods, establishing a fair competition environment, protecting the legitimate interests of many domestic manufacturing industries.

Steel is a typical industry facing a lot of trade remedy lawsuits. Photo: Nguyen Thanh

As of November 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has initiated an investigation into 23 cases of trade remedies, including 13 anti-dumping cases, one anti-subsidy case, six self-defense cases and one anti-circumvention case. Objects include products such as steel, glass, cooking oil, monosodium glutamate, DAP fertilizer, aluminum, wooden boards, and cane sugar.

Le Trieu Dung, Director of the Trade Protection Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that applying trade remedies to goods imported into Vietnam is new but very important. More than ever, Vietnam needs to improve its capacity in trade remedies, and it is necessary to make good use of legal trade remedy tools permitted by the WTO.

However, the process of investigating and applying trade remedies needs to be objective, ensuring that all opinions of stakeholders are synthesized, calculated and considered in accordance with the detailed provisions of domestic and international laws to avoid abuse.

Faced with the increasing trend of using trade remedies, Deputy Head of the Central Communication Department Phan Xuan Thuy suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade strengthen the dissemination of information on trade remedies; promote communication, provide basic, in-depth and systematic information on fair trade to press agencies.

On the part of the press agency, the Deputy Head of the Central Communication Department asked the units to continue promoting communication and dissemination of knowledge related to fair trade in order to improve the capacity and awareness of the business community and the public about trade remedies, thereby protecting the legitimate rights and interests of domestic manufacturing industries and the economy when Vietnam participates in many FTAs.

“The press must be an information channel and a forum to express the opinions of people and businesses towards the Party, State, ministries and vice versa. Through the press, the opinions of businesses and people will contribute to creating positive changes by state agencies in policy innovation," said Phan Xuan Thuy.