The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced preliminary rulings on the circumvention inquiries into Vietnamese cold-rolled steel (CRS) and corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) exports made from materials imported from Taiwan (China) and South of Korea.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Viet Nam (TRAV), the US initiated the investigations on August 2, 2018, after it had imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on CRS and CORE products from Taiwan and South Korea since 2016.

The DOC said certain steel products were first produced in South Korea and Taiwan, which were then shipped to Viet Nam for minor processing, and finally exported to the US as CORE and CRS.

The department will temporarily apply circumvention measures against imports of CRS and CORE produced in Viet Nam using South Korean- or Taiwanese-origin substrate by collecting cash deposits on them. The applicable cash deposit rates depend on the origin of the substrate and the type of steel product exported to the US.

However, as these are circumvention probes into products with substrate hailing from South Korea and Taiwan, the CRS and CORE products made from materials of Viet Nam or other countries and territories will not be subject to those duties, the TRAV noted.

The authority said during the investigations, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated closely with the Viet Nam Steel Association and involved businesses to provide information as requested by the US side.

It has also recommended companies devise suitable business strategies, especially switching to using materials made in Viet Nam or sources other than South Korea and Taiwan.

The ministry will continue working with relevant parties in the next stages of the investigations to protect rights and legitimate interests of companies, ensure the adherence to legal regulations and the World Trade Organisations agreements, and prevent circumventing acts and origin fraud, according to the TRAV.

The DOC is expected to announce the final rulings in September this year. — VNS