Businesses need to closely monitor trade defense investigation warnings

Canada increases trade defense investigations

To date, according to the Department of Trade Defense, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Canada is the country that investigates and applies the 4th most trade defense measures against Vietnamese export goods (after the United States, India and Turkey) and the most within the framework of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Fast-growing exports may continue to be the subject of trade defense investigations in the Canadian market. Photo: Hoa Phat

According to a report from the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada, as of September 2024, Canada has initiated 19 trade defense investigations on Vietnamese export goods, including 12 anti-dumping cases, 5 anti-subsidy cases and 2 defense cases, including a new anti-dumping case arising in March 2024. Of the 19 cases related to Vietnam, 8 cases are still subject to trade defense measures or are under investigation or re-investigation for extension.

Ms. Tran Thu Quynh - Trade Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Canada said that Canada is conducting an anti-dumping investigation on a number of imported goods from China in which Vietnamese enterprises also have strengths such as tractor chassis/container chassis and wind towers (wind turbines).

In addition, the Trade Office has recently received information that there will be a new investigation related to Vietnamese fabric-covered office furniture products and the risk that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will conduct an investigation into wind power towers and solar panels exported from Vietnam. On the other hand, the anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations by Canada against Vietnam are still in effect mainly on iron and steel, upholstered chairs (previously also shoes and garlic), especially for the iron and steel/metallurgy industry.

According to Ms. Tran Thu Quynh, when investigating a product, Canada often considers the import flow from all related countries, even if the export volume may be insignificant. In addition, when targeted, products are investigated for both anti-dumping and countervailing duties. Therefore, some other high-risk products of Vietnam may be: Hot-rolled steel coils, steel screws/joints, mesh steel floors, copper pipes, coolers, heaters, industrial wood flooring, drill pipes, pile pipes and aluminum profiles...

Businesses need to monitor warning information

From the establishment of a comprehensive partnership to the establishment of an FTA through the CPTPP Agreement, the economic and trade relations between Vietnam and Canada have developed positively. Currently, Vietnam is Canada's largest trading partner among ASEAN countries and Canada is Vietnam's second largest trading partner in the Americas; Vietnam's exports to Canada are maintaining a high growth rate.

Therefore, in the coming time, in the context of implementing the CPTPP Agreement, the Department of Trade Defense, Ministry of Industry and Trade warns that fast-growing export turnover items may continue to be subject to trade defense investigations in the Canadian market. Accordingly, the Department of Trade Defense recommends that enterprises producing and exporting goods to Canada need to continue to learn and update the trade defense regulations of this market to ensure their legitimate rights and interests.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada further informed that recently, Canada has made a number of legislative changes to anti-dumping and countervailing measures, including the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, the Special Import Measures Regulations (SIMR) and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Regulations... These amendments relate to anti-circumvention investigations, dealing with large imports, injury assessment, expiry review and the rights of labor unions to file complaints about trade defense measures.

Notably, according to Ms. Tran Thu Quynh, Canada has recently changed the deadline for notifying the exporting country of its decision to initiate an investigation. Specifically, while previously, Canada notified the relevant Governments 30 days before deciding to investigate, the regulation has now been revised to only notify 7 days in advance for complaints related to dumping and 20 days for complaints related to subsidies.

Therefore, Ms. Tran Thu Quynh recommends that Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises need to pay attention to and monitor warning information, grasp trends and situations of trade defense cases related to their manufactured products, including those from other countries, and when being investigated, need to actively cooperate in providing information to avoid being subject to high taxes.

It is known that recently, under the authorization of the Trade Defense Department, the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada has participated in the hearings of a number of cases at the Canadian International Trade Court. The Trade Office has also conducted local public opinion surveys and closely cooperated with Canadian associations and law offices to grasp the risk of being investigated in new product areas such as: carbon steel screws, hot-rolled steel, wind turbine towers, solar panels, office furniture, etc. so that the Trade Defense Department can warn domestic enterprises.

To help businesses proactively avoid being accused of dumping/evading trade defense measures, Ms. Tran Thu Quynh added that the Vietnam Trade Office has been organizing many events to popularize the CPTPP Agreement, understand the principles of origin and how to exploit the principle of cumulative origin in production... and mobilize the Canadian Government to fund the project to develop a database of input products associated with the supply capacity that satisfies the origin standards to effectively and sustainably exploit free trade agreements.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/xuat-khau-sang-thi-truong-canada-doanh-nghiep-can-theo-doi-sat-canh-bao-dieu-tra-phong-ve-thuong-mai-352152.html