On August 17, the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) said that recently, its member businesses have actively participated in the process of criticizing before the initiation of an investigation by the US Department of Commerce. DOC) on product scope review and anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation on wooden cabinets, dressing tables and components imported from Vietnam.
However, on August 4, the DOC issued a notice that it did not accept comments that provided critical information of some Vietnamese enterprises for the content of the investigation to consider the product scope.
Due to the fact that enterprises submitted their comments later than prescribed, the DOC will provide instructions for businesses to remove objections submitted on the access.trade.gov website.
For businesses that submit within the allowed time limit but do not meet the correct form, lack the enterprise's certification certification, or have not registered to participate in receiving information (entry of appreance), the DOC allows each enterprise to correct errors. and additional registrations.
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According to the representative of VIFOREST, in response to the case, the association suggested that the enterprises strictly and fully comply with the requirements for providing information of the US investigating agency, in close coordination with the Trade Remedies Administration. and VIFOREST during the course of the case. As a result, there are over 150 enterprises exporting wooden furniture to the US using the Trade Remedies Department's counter-form sent to the DOC.
Although the initiation of the investigation is not new to the industry, but for the US market, this is the second initiated case after the initiation of the hardwood plywood investigation (July 16, 2020). Therefore, businesses need to strengthen their capacity to respond to the case and improve trade defense capabilities.
"In fact, many businesses do not have the experience and skills to effectively coordinate with the investigation agency. For example, the first step is to open an access account on the DOC's website, which is also little known by businesses. In this regard, enterprises realize that the ability to defend trade is very important and needs to be further improved," said a representative of VIFOREST.
According to VIFOREST's representative, on April 22, a consortium of US kitchen cabinet manufacturers submitted an application to the DOC requesting to review the product range and investigate anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax evasion with respect to the products. wooden cabinets, bathroom vanities and components imported from Vietnam.
The reason is because of suspicion of product origin fraud to export to the US in order to evade anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes that the US has imposed on similar products from China.
On May 24 (US time) DOC initiated an investigation and considered that wooden cabinets imported from Vietnam and Malaysia into the United States using parts imported from China are within the scope of application of preventive measures. trade protection that the United States is applying to similar Chinese products.
As a rule, interested parties have 30 days from the date of initiation to submit comments and provide counter-information to the US investigative agency.
It is expected that the DOC will make a final conclusion within 120 days from the date of initiation, which can be extended for another 180 days if there is a good reason. During an investigation, the DOC may request information from interested parties for review purposes.
TU UYEN
