Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The US’ imposition of duties of up to 456 percent on certain steelproducts shipped from Vietnam would not significantly harm the country’s steelindustry, according to industry insiders.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) early this week issued a final orderslapping duties of up to 456 percent on steel products produced in the Republic ofKorea (RoK) and Taiwan, shipped to Vietnam for minor processing then exportedto the US.

The DOC said in a statement that corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) andcold-rolled steel (CR) processed in Vietnam using steel of Korean or Taiwaneseorigin had circumvented US duties.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, a duty of up to 456 percentwould be applied on CR and CORE of unclear origin.

The duties for CR and CORE using steel from the RoK were 24.2 percent and 29.4 percent,respectively and 10.34 percent for CR using steel from Taiwan.

According to the DOC’s statement, shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the USincreased 4,353 percent from 23 million USD between April 2012 and December 2015(when preliminary duties were imposed on Korean and Taiwanese products)to 1.1 billion USD from January 2016 to September 2019.

Shipments of CR rose 922 percent from 49 million USD between January 2013 andFebruary 2016 (when preliminary duties were imposed on Korean andTaiwanese products) to 498 million USD between March 2016 and April 2019.

However, industry insiders and market researchers said they foresaw littlenegative impact from the move on the Vietnamese steel industry.

SSI Securities Corporation said the US’ tax imposition would not havesignificant impacts on Vietnam’s steel producers because most anticipated risksfrom the US’ trade defence measures and had worked to diversify their exportmarkets.

ACB Securities said Vietnam’s steel export to the US only accounted for 2 percentof the country’s total steel export value. Thus, the duties would not seriouslyaffect Vietnam’s steel export revenue but would affect certain domestic steelproducers.

Nguyen Van Sua from the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) was also nonplussed by themove.

Sua said that facing duty imposition was not a new thing for Vietnam’s steelindustry, thus, many firms had prepared for this by diversifying export marketsand selecting raw materials originated from countries which were not subjectedto duties.

For example, Hoa Phat Group had been working to reduce reliance on the importof raw materials for its production, especially with the Hoa Phat Dung QuatIron and Steel Complex, according to Nguyen Manh Tuan, General Director of HoaPhat Steel Pipe Company JSC.

According to Pham Chau Giang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Trade RemediesAuthority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many Vietnamese steelproducers were working with the US in certifying their product origins.Generally, the US’ duty imposition would not have a significant impact.

Giang said the ministry would continue to work with the industry associationand trade counsellors to provide information at the request of the USinvestigation agency to ensure Vietnamese products enjoy fair treatment.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also urged steel producers to use rawmaterials produced domestically or from countries not subjected to the duties.

According to the Vietnam Steel Association, Vietnam’s export of CORE and CR tothe US hit 260 million USD in the January-October period.

The US accounted for 6.5 percent of Vietnam’s steel export volume. ASEAN wasthe country’s largest export market, accounting for 65 percent./.