US commerce department gives good news to Vietnamese tyre makers

On May 24, the DOC issued its final conclusion on the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into automobile tyres imported from the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), Thailand, and Viet Nam.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued a positive conclusion for Viet Nam in the anti-dumping and countervailing duty probes into imported automobile tyres.

For the anti-dumping duty content, the DOC maintained its decisions from the preliminary conclusion. This means most of the businesses that account for 95.5 per cent of Viet Nam’s total car tyre exports to the US are considered not to be dumping their products so won't face anti-dumping duties, while a tax rate of 22.3 per cent is imposed on the rest.

For the countervailing duty content, the tax rates on the Vietnamese enterprises are set at between 6.23 per cent and 7.89 per cent, down from the 6.23 per cent – 10.08 per cent determined in the preliminary conclusion.

Given this, the anti-dumping and countervailing duties that the companies making up 95.5 per cent of tyre exports to US are between 6.23 per cent and 7.89 per cent, the lowest among those subject to the investigation.

This is a positive result for Viet Nam’s tyre producers and exporters to the US – the largest market of Vietnamese tyres. It also benefits the rubber industry since about 80 per cent of natural rubber harvested in Viet Nam is used for tyre manufacturing.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) said it has been working closely with relevant parties to secure objective and positive results for Vietnamese producers and exporters.

The ministry noted it has discussed with agencies of the US via different dialogue channels to prove Viet Nam did not dump or subsidise automobile tyres or devalue its currency to create an export advantage.

It will continue working with the State Bank of Viet Nam and ministries and sectors to work with the US about this country’s conclusion regarding currency devaluation, the ministry added. — VNS