The Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) has said it will work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to take the necessary measures in defense of local steelmakers against a recent U.S. decision to slap steep import duties on steel products from Vietnam.

The decision, made by the U.S. Department of Commerce last Tuesday, would involve the imposition of Chinese anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rates on corrosion-resistant and cold-rolled steel from Vietnam.

In 2016, U.S. steelmakers won when anti-dumping (AD) and countervail (CV)  duties were applied to Chinese steel, which meant cold-rolled steel from China would be subject to 265.79 percent AD and 256.44 percent CV duties when exported to the U.S.

Meanwhile, the AD and CV duties of 199.46 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively, were also applied on corrosion-resistant steel from China.

The United States commerce department has argued that Chinese products are being dumped in third-party countries, such as Vietnam, to circumvent these duties, and hence last Tuesday’s decision.

Although the product was only processed in Vietnam, the commerce department agreed with the claims of American producers that as much as 90 percent of the product’s value originated from China.

On Monday, the VSA said it was working with the Department of Trade Defense under the Ministry of Industry and Trade to follow developments around the ruling and to take the necessary measures in defense of local steelmakers in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations.

According to the VSA, the process of making corrosion-resistant or cold-rolled steel by Vietnamese businesses is a crucial step in the close looped manufacturing of high-quality flat steel bars, with factories in Vietnam invested to the tune of hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

The cold-rolling process generates between 30 and 40 percent added value to imported hot-rolled coil from China, VSA argues, dismissing the claim by U.S. authorities that up to 90 percent of the value of Vietnamese steel originates from China.

This “radical” and “fundamental” transformation of the product’s nature proves that cold-rolling is not merely the processing or assembly of Chinese steel to circumvent import duties, as claimed by U.S. authorities, VSA reasoned.

In addition, VSA said, the U.S. had yet to put a regulation in place regarding the required added value content of exports from Vietnam, and that this was a major setback for Vietnamese steelmakers affected by the decision.

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