- A+
The United States launched an investigation into Vietnamese hardwood plywood, saying that the raw materials come from China?
Abstract: The United States will investigate hardwood plywood assembled in Vietnam using Chinese components to determine whether it has circumvented the U.S. import tariffs imposed on China.
On the other hand, in order to avoid US penalties from affecting its economy, Vietnam has already conducted stringent investigations on Chinese products and implemented the most stringent regulations on certificates of origin in October last year.
-01-
Suspected made in China
U.S. launches anti-dumping investigation against Vietnamese plywood
According to a foreign media report on June 11, the United States will launch an anti-dumping investigation on hardwood plywood exported from Vietnam, which means that it may charge for this product in Vietnam in the future; what needs attention is that Vietnamese plywood is accused of using Chinese raw materials and then Processing locally and exporting to the United States.
The US Department of Commerce stated that it is investigating at the request of the Hardwood Plywood Fair Trade Alliance. The alliance represents hardwood plywood producers in North Carolina and Oregon.
The Ministry of Commerce stated that if the investigation results show that Vietnamese producers are evading current anti-dumping or countervailing duties, it will instruct US customs officials to start collecting deposits for plywood from Vietnam.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determined in December 2017 that hardwood plywood imported from China was harmful to U.S. manufacturers and imposed five-year import tariffs on such products.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has imposed anti-dumping duties on hardwood plywood imported from China at 183.6% and countervailing duties up to 194.9%, and determined that these products are subsidized and dumped in the United States. The Ministry of Commerce also stated that imports from China totaled 1.12 billion U.S. dollars. The aforementioned Hardwood Plywood Fair Trade Alliance welcomed the decision of the Ministry of Commerce.
US data show that after the import tariffs on Chinese products took effect, the amount of hardwood plywood imported from Vietnam in 2018 increased from 28 million US dollars the previous year to 238 million US dollars, and then doubled to 468 million US dollars in 2019. Imports from China have declined year by year, reaching US$1.12 billion in 2017, US$143 million in 2018, and US$66 million in 2019.
-02-
Under pressure from the United States
Vietnam frequently charges Chinese goods
Although Vietnam has been trying its best to avoid the fate of being "charged" by the United States, and even promised to import US$3 billion worth of US agricultural products in March this year, this Southeast Asian economy has still received relevant notifications from the US on "investigated products".
Vietnam is now facing an investigation by the United States, which means that its previous efforts may have been in vain. In the first four months of this year, the United States was the largest market for Vietnam’s exports, with exports reaching US$20.3 billion, an increase of 13.4% year-on-year; however, in recent years, the United States has repeatedly increased the number of imports between Vietnam and the United States. Dissatisfied with the export surplus.
On the other hand, in the face of the pressure of being charged by the United States, Vietnam has begun to frequently impose charges on Chinese products.
In July last year, the United States announced that it would charge up to 456% of additional fees for steel and other products exported from Vietnam to the United States; then in October, Vietnam urgently announced that it would impose a five-year fee on steel products from China.
In April of this year, Vietnam announced that it would initiate an investigation on some polyester long fibers (also known as filament yarns), which are textile raw materials from China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Will face the fate of being charged.
-03-
Strictly prevent death
Vietnam implements the strictest regulations on certificate of origin
In the general environment of Sino-US trade friction, there are indeed many Chinese foreign trade exporters and freight forwarders considering using Southeast Asian countries to use third-party entrepot trade to avoid the risk of additional tariffs imposed by the United States. In order to avoid US penalties from affecting its economy, Vietnam began to implement the strictest regulations on certificates of origin in October last year.
According to the "Made in Vietnam" (origin) standard issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam:
The place of origin must be marked on the product label. If a product is purely made in Vietnam or is entirely produced in Vietnam, it will be labeled "Made in Vietnam".
If the product is manufactured in the final processing stage in Vietnam, it must meet the requirements of the relevant commodity code (HS) conversion requirements and the domestic value added ratio of more than 30% before it can be marked as “Made in Vietnam”.
As a close neighbor of China, Vietnam has undertaken a large number of furniture manufacturing from China in recent years. Although Vietnam's furniture industry is already quite large, many parts still rely on imports from China.
Undoubtedly, Vietnam is still inseparable from China.
However, the method of exporting Chinese furniture through Vietnam in the future may not work.
