Việt Nam's steel industry would not be affected by the tax duties of the US, expert said. — Photo vneconomy.vn

HÀ NỘI — The US Commerce Department said on Tuesday it would impose duties of up to 456 per cent on certain steel produced in South Korea or Taiwan that are then shipped to Việt Nam for minor processing and finally exported to the US, Reuters reported.

The agency said in a statement that it had found corrosion-resistant steel products and cold-rolled steel produced in Việt Nam using substrate of South Korean or Taiwanese origin that had circumvented US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

According to Reuters, the duties on South Korean and Taiwanese products were imposed in December 2015 and February 2016. Since those dates through April 2019, shipments of corrosion-resistant steel products and cold-rolled steel from Việt Nam to the US had increased by 332 per cent and 916 per cent, respectively, compared with similar periods immediately before.

It said the Commerce Department inquiry was initiated at the request of ArcelorMittal SA’s US unit, Nucor Corp, US Steel Corp, Steel Dynamics Inc, California Steel Industries, and AK Steel Corp.

However, former vice chairman of Việt Nam Steel Association, Nguyễn Văn Sưa told vietnamfinance.vn that the tax imposed would not affect Việt Nam’s steel industry.

Sưa said the duties were imposed by the US in 2017. However, Việt Nam’s steel industry had been affected in the short term as, since June 2017, Formosa Hà Tĩnh produced hot rolled steel - raw material for making cold rolled steel and stainless steel (galvanised steel and colour coated steel).

Last year, Formosa produced 3.4 million tonnes of hot rolled steel. The output this year was expected to reach 4.5 million tonnes. Domestic steel producers could use the materials for orders to the US and avoid using those imported from Taiwan, South Korea and China.

According to the association, the local steel market saw stable growth in the first six months of the year. Its exports to Canada and ASEAN continued to increase in the period.

Pomina Company took the lead in exports of construction steel with 480,000 tonnes, posting a 12 per cent year-on-year rise. Pomina said the application of modern technology has helped the factory produce 500,000 tonnes of rolled steel and 800,000 tonnes of steel billet a year.  — VNS