MARD, at a working session with enterprises in the woodwork industry on August, said that the US Coalition for Fair Trade of Hardwood Plywood in February requested the Department of Commerce (DOC) to launch an investigation against the anti-dumping and countervailing duty avoidance on certain hardwood and plywood product imports from Vietnam from January 2018 to January 2020.

On March 1, 2020, DOC accepted the petition and publicized it to plywood importers and Vietnam’s plywood manufacturers and exports so that the enterprises could express their opinions to the plaintiff, according to Tien Phong.

On June 9, DOC announced the decision to investigate the case. Within three months from the day of initiating the investigation, DOC would take a preliminary investigation with a questionnaire.

However, to date, DOC has yet to begun the process.

Cao Chi Cong of MARD thinks that the US side wants an investigation related to the origin of products as it doubts that some Chinese enterprises take products to Vietnam to obtain Vietnamese origin before shipping to the US to avoid high tax rates. 

After receiving a warning that China-made plywood products may counterfeit Vietnamese origin, MARD immediately requested relevant agencies to examine some enterprises, including ones in Bac Giang province

After receiving a warning that China-made plywood products may counterfeit Vietnamese origin, MARD immediately requested relevant agencies to examine some enterprises, including ones in Bac Giang province.

The Economic Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security verified and provided information to MOIT with information on production and business activities of a number of plywood enterprises.

According to Ngo Sy Hoai, deputy chair of the Vietnam Timber and Forestry Product Association (Vifores), Vietnam’s plywood products are meeting problems with two markets – the US and South Korea.

South Korea is imposing an anti-dumping duty of over 10 percent on Vietnam’s products. However, this has little effect on Vietnam’s exports because the importers accepted to share difficulties.

Meanwhile, plywood exports to the US are mostly high-quality products. It would be dangerous if the US imposes the duty avoidance tax, possibly 180 percent, and the anti-subsidy duty, which may amount to over 200 percent.

“We believe that the US targets enterprises from China that want to counterfeit the Vietnamese origin to avoid anti-dumping duties imposed by the US on Chinese products, not Vietnamese enterprises,” Hoai said.

According to MARD, there are about 80 enterprises making plywood products, but not all of them export products to the US. In 2019, Vietnam exported $300 million worth of products to the market.

Vietnam’s plywood products are exported to over 70 markets. In 2019, it exported $680 million worth of products, while the figure was $365 million in H1.

Translated by Linh Ha

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