Vietnamese car and light truck tires exported to the US market are said to be subsidized by the Vietnamese government and cause “serious damage” to the US industry.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has just concluded that Vietnam’s subsidized car tires, along with similar products imported from three other Asian countries, have caused heavy damage to the US industry.
A month ago, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) stated that Vietnamese car and light truck tire products exported to the US were unfairly subsidized because of the undervaluation of the Southeast Asian country’s currency.
The investigation into an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax on tire products of Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand was initiated by the DOC in June last year, under President Donald Trump, on the basis of recommendation of the American Steel Workers Association. The items from Vietnam subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation are car tires and light trucks.
USITC on June 23 said that this committee has made a firm decision on the anti-subsidy investigation related to the import of these tire products from Vietnam as well as with the dumping investigation related to the import of similar products from South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
In a press release issued on June 23, the USITC said the committee decided that imported car and light truck tire products from Vietnam that the DOC had determined were sold in the United States at a price below market price is “not significant.” The committee said it had voted to end the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation against Vietnam.
However, the USITC asserted that “the US industry suffered serious injury” from importing tires from Vietnam that the DOC determined were being sold in the United States at less than fair value and were subsidized by the Vietnamese government. The commission made similar findings for products imported from South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, but did not provide further details on the damage.
According to the affirmative conclusions of the USITC, the US Department of Commerce will issue an order to impose anti-dumping duties on the above products imported from Vietnam and anti-dumping duties on similar products imported from Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
The US is Vietnam’s largest export market, including automobile tires. According to DOC data, the US imported tire products worth more than $542 million from Vietnam in 2020.
Vietnam has been investigated by the US for undervaluing its currency, and the US Department of Finance under President Trump has put Vietnam on the list of currency manipulators. However, the US Department of Finance in April this year removed Vietnam from this list, even though it said that the Southeast Asian country had exceeded the possible threshold to be labeled a currency manipulator under the 2015 US Trade Law. The Vietnamese government has always said that its monetary policy is not aimed at unfair trade competition with the US.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
