EU launches anti-dumping and countervailing investigations against cold rolled stainless steel in Vietnam

On August 20, 2023, based on the news of VNS, the European Commission (EC) has announced the initiation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on cold rolled stainless steel products imported from Vietnam, Taiwan, China, China and Türkiye, according to the news of the Trade Relief Bureau under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam. The investigation was conducted at the request of the European Steel Association (EUROFER). The products that may be avoided are flat rolled products of stainless steel, which have not been further processed except for cold rolling. They belong to the merged category numbers 7219 31 00, 7219 32 10, 7219 32 90, 7219 33 10, 7219 33 90, 7219 34 10, 7219 34 90, 7219 35 10, 7219 35 90, 72193590, 7219 90 20, 7219020.
The announcement of the European Commission clarified that after the implementation of the current anti-dumping measures, the export trade pattern of Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Türkiye and Vietnam to the EU has changed. This change seems to originate from a practice that, apart from the imposition of tariffs, there is no sufficient justification or economic reason, that is, after the relevant products are assembled/completed in Taiwan, China, Türkiye or the Non Aligned Movement of Vietnam respectively, they are shipped to the European Union via Taiwan, China, Türkiye and the Non Aligned Movement of Vietnam. The evidence provided by the applicant indicates that such assembly/completion operations starting from stainless steel billets and/or hot-rolled stainless steel flat products originating in Indonesia constitute avoidance, as these operations have already begun or significantly increased since the initial countervailing investigation was initiated. Stainless steel slabs and/or hot-rolled stainless steel flat products originating from Indonesia account for over 60% of the total value of assembled product parts, and the added value during assembly/completion operations is less than 25% of manufacturing costs.
In addition, evidence suggests that due to the aforementioned practices, the remedial effect of existing countervailing measures on the relevant products has been compromised in terms of quantity and price. A large number of imports of the surveyed products seem to have entered the EU market. In addition, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the imports of the investigated products were conducted at harmful prices. The investigation will be conducted in nine months. Stakeholders must contact the European Commission within 15 days of the announcement and submit a hearing application to the Commission within the same 37 day period.
In order to ensure their legitimate rights, the bureau recommends that relevant enterprises and exporters study these procedures and comply with the time, format, and content regulations set by the European Commission. At the same time, they fully cooperate with the European Commission during the investigation and contact the bureau to obtain information and support.