By Dat Nguyen –
Vietnam has faced nearly 200 allegations of trade safeguard violations to date even as protectionism and trade conflicts increase around the world.
Key export categories that have been involved in the allegations include seafood, steel, aluminum and wood, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The country has won 43 percent of the lawsuits initiated in this regard, which resulted in the continued export of some major export items like basa fish and prawn to key markets like the U.S. and the E.U.
Trade safeguard measures are actions a country takes to restrict imports with the aim of protecting domestic manufacturers.
This year, several products from Vietnam have faced dumping allegations. The U.S. in June initiated an investigation of Vietnamese tires, and Australia began probing Vietnamese coated steel in July.
Vietnam has initiated investigations of its own in 19 trade safeguard cases to date. These include the imports of steel, chemicals and plastic which it suspects could hurt local manufacturers.
The trade ministry’s safeguard measures have protected over 150,000 jobs of Vietnamese people and the duties imposed have contributed trillions of VND (VND1 trillion = $43.2 million) to the state’s coffers, the report says.