Vietnamese enterprises are at high risk of facing more trade barriers, especially anti-dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits in their export markets, said Head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Mr. Tran Huu Huynh.
Though lawsuits against Vietnamese exports like fish, shrimp, plastic bags, sandals and shoes, bicycles and compact lamps have not come to an end in its major export markets of the U.S. and the EU, Vietnamese seafood and woodwork exporters are warned of facing such the suits, Huynh said.
These lawsuits will affect Vietnam’s export growth, Huynh noted at the meeting on the issue co-held by the Trade Remedies Council (TRC) under the VCCI and the U.S. law firm Squire Sanders in Hanoi on Mar. 10.
Vietnamese businesses should draw lessons from the U.S.’s recent anti-dumping lawsuits against Chinese goods when the American country applies safeguards measures against any imports from China, which means that these imports from others including Vietnam will be put under its scrutiny, Dr. Peter John Koeing from Squire Sanders said.
Together with incurring the negative export growth in 2009, Vietnam also encountered the record high of seven anti-dumping lawsuits and self-protective measures in its six export markets, Nguyen Thi Thu Trang from the TRC said.
Vietnam has to date faced 42 trade lawsuits, she noted, adding that this is an alarming figure for Vietnam as its economy now depends much on exports.
However, many enterprises often ignore the lawsuits as they are not involved in the lawsuits, or have few understanding about the issue; therefore they take improper actions, leading to severe consequences, Trang said.
In order to solve these problems, the Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) plans to launch a warning system about risks of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy suits against Vietnamese products, said Deputy Director Nguyen Ba Phu.
B.T
Vietnamese
