The plan to increase pork imports to make up for domestic shortages won’t be easy to implement as the global price has increased sharply.

The Ministry of Finance has recently sent Dispatch No.14813/BTC-CST to competent ministries and sectors, suggesting cutting import on chicken and pork products.

In the context of a tense global trade war, while a new wave of investment inflow into Vietnam has yet to unleash, risks facing Vietnamese enterprises as well as the entire economy have surfaced.

Managers of the Binh Son Refining & Petrochemical JSC (BSR) have expressed their concern that Dung Quat Refinery may take a loss because of the crude oil import tariff of 5 percent.

 VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam had spent US$485 million importing 1.06 million tons of fuels from South Korea in the year to August, up a staggering 573% in volume year-on-year,

The domestic sector has lost the local and export forestry markets to the foreign sector, Huynh Van Hanh, general director of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City has said.

In 2015, China topped the world in terms of steel output (803.8 million tons), exporting 111.6 million tons. Meanwhile, Vietnam ranked seventh in the world and the first in South East Asia in steel imports (16.3 million tons).

VietNamNet Bridge - Steel mills now have to struggle to compete with imports from China. If the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) does not take temporary safeguard measures, a series of enterprises will go bankrupt.

When import tariffs on fashion products fall from 20 percent to zero percent after the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) takes effect, Vietnamese fashion brands are expected to encounter significant challenges.

VietNamNet Bridge - Some foreign investors have warned that they may leave Vietnam because of unfavorable conditions to do business. However, Vietnamese businesses and analysts believe they will stay in the country.

Citing local production protection, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) wants to ease the import tariffs on automobile parts. However, the move could 'fatten’ foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) only, while local manufacturers will not see benefits.

While experts remain pessimistic about Vietnam’s automobile industry, pointing out that its great efforts in the last several decades have been in vain, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) still puts high hopes on the industry’s development.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s preferential import tariff rates for 2015-2018 were introduced to domestic firms during a workshop in Hanoi on July 15 as the country realises its commitments under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement.  

VietNamNet Bridge - All Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) members, including Vietnam, look at China, which is now considering joining the free trade area, with suspicious eyes.

Though demand is predicted to increase by 15 percent in 2015, steel manufacturers still anticipate a difficult year ahead because supply from both domestic sources and imports will increase even more sharply.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam is facing a high risk of losing export markets to emerging rivals in Asia who are planning to join the world market.

VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries (Vinacomin) Group plans to sell 35 million tons of coal domestically, but its most loyal customers are hesitant to sign contracts.

Petroleum enterprises have launched a new campaign to ask for the right to determine the retail petrol prices themselves, saying that the market rules need to be applied in a market economy.

Vietnamese textile and garment companies have warned that they would have more redoubtable rivals as China may increase its investments in Vietnam once the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP is signed.