The Reason Why Vietnam's Wood Industry Is Subject To Many International Trade Remedy Investigations

According to experts at the seminar with the theme: "Trade remedies for Vietnam's wood and wood products industry", many wood products around the world have been subject to international trade remedy investigations such as wooden planks, wall plywood, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets,... made from wood panels, sawn timber, logs. Similarly, in Vietnam, wood products are currently under investigation by many international trade remedies agencies.

According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Remedies of Vietnam, at present, trade remedies applied to the wood industry have two main cases, including active fraud and acts of being investigated for fraud by the importing country.

Accordingly, in the first case, the enterprise actively commits fraud, which means that the enterprise actively commits violations of Vietnamese law and international commitments in the field of trade remedies in order to gain great benefits. For example, actively cooperate with an enterprise subject to anti-dumping duty in another country to import components, goods, and products at cheap prices into Vietnam and then export to the country issuing the anti-dumping duty, thereby constituting the act of circumvention of anti-dumping measures.

The second case is the act of being investigated for fraud by the importing country, which means that the Vietnamese enterprise is not wrong in nature, but because of the lack of knowledge and experience to handle the case, it leads to the imposition of wrong trade remedy duties, causing heavy damage.

In this case, the Vietnam Department of Trade Remedies should be responsible for supporting and advising businesses that produce and export Vietnamese wood products to contact law firms specializing in anti-dumping to receive legal advice, find the right legal consultancy unit with high expertise, and at the same time improve the general knowledge of businesses in the field of trade remedies.

The wood industry in Vietnam is under investigation in all manufacturing and exporting industries from Vietnam to the world. By the end of 2022, the US DOC is expected to issue a final judgment on hardwood plywood and is investigating more about kitchen cabinets exported from Vietnam, along with other international investigations, ...

The reason why Vietnam's wood industry is subject to many international trade remedy investigations

According to a report of the Vietnam Department of Trade Remedies, currently, 80-90% of trade remedy cases are anti-dumping investigations, including the wood industry.

Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises producing and exporting wood products to the world need to study the anti-dumping investigation of the USA as well as the key export markets of Vietnam's wood industry to be able to proactively respond to problems that arise.

However, the production of wood products includes many stages that can arise in many different countries, of which Vietnam is just a link in the overall production chain. Therefore, in addition to anti-dumping, Vietnam is also more likely to become the subject of anti-circumvention investigation.

According to today's world trend, trade remedy investigation is a measure to protect the interests of the importing country and its domestic industry. The fact that Vietnam becomes the subject of investigation does not necessarily prove that Vietnamese enterprises commit illegal acts that lead to being trade remedies duties.

The investigation is only dangerous when the enterprise actively violates the law or does not have sufficient knowledge and experience in the field of trade defense to protect itself. Active violations cannot be corrected, but for businesses subject to the investigation that are not actively violating, they can seek advice and support from reputable anti-dumping law firms.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.