Vietnamese tyres have been under anti-dumping investigations from the US Commerce Department. — Photo bnews.vn

HÀ NỘI — The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced an investigation into alleged dumping of tyre imports from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Việt Nam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The DOC said it was also initiating a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of passenger vehicle and light truck (PVLT) tyres from Việt Nam.

The investigation was initiated following an application filed in May and lodged by the United Steelworkers (USW) representing workers at US tyre plants.

The department said the alleged dumping margins range from 106 to 217.5 per cent for Thailand, 43 to 195 per cent for South Korea, 21 to 116 per cent for Taiwan, and 5 to 22 per cent for Việt Nam.

The MoIT’s Trade Remedies Authority of Việt Nam (TRAV) said it has worked with ministries and businesses to provide the US with the most accurate information on development policies of the rubber industry, production costs and selling prices of tyre producers.

Last year, the US imported tyres worth US$4 billion from the four countries and territories. Of which, export turnover from Việt Nam was $500 million. Tyre exports to the US increased by 20 per cent in comparison with those of 2017.

TRAV said trade-restrictive measures, notably anti-dumping and anti-subsidies, have increased rapidly recently. In the first half of this year, the ministry dealt with 176 trade defence cases applied by foreign countries to goods exported from Việt Nam.

It has sent warnings to localities and businesses to be cautious in their exports, especially when there was a surge in turnover.

The ministry asked the Vietnamese exporters to provide information to the US and answering questionnaires timely.

The investigations were expected to be carried out within 12 months and could extend another six months. During the investigation, the DOC may make preliminary conclusions and apply provisional anti-dumping and countervailing measures.

Most recently, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) initiated an anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigation on Chinese plywood products imported from Việt Nam on June 17.

Export turnover of this product to the US was about $300 million last year. — VNS