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Vietnam rejects US’s claims for plastic bags
Vietnam strongly denounces a lawsuit filed by two US bag-makers to ask for anti-dumping duties against plastic bags imported from the Southeast Asian country, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Danh Vinh.
The Deputy Minister said the lawsuit was “completely unreasonable”. He stressed Vietnam has been fully implementing its commitments and duties when joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and observing the WTO regulations, including those on subsidy.
As the US government does not acknowledge that Vietnam is a market economy to be subject to countervailing duties, the US companies’ complaints are completely contrary to the US government’s policy of not imposing the countervailing duties on non-market economies.
Regarding his consultation with the US Department of Commerce (DOC) on April 15, Vinh said his delegation affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has provided no subsidy for the plastic industry and Vietnam rejected all accusations from the US plaintiffs.
He said Vietnam also made clear requirements to the DOC to ensure equality and justice for Vietnamese businesses in trade protection cases.
According to Vinh, the two sides at the consultation discussed openly and straightly all issues and the DOC will give its official decision on April 20.
The official also said that in case the DOC decides to investigate the case, his ministry will do all its efforts to protect Vietnamese companies’ legitimate interests in line with international trade standards and the WTO regulations.
In late March, Hilex Poly Co LLC and the Superbag Corporation of the US filed the petition against polyethylene retail carrier bags imported from Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan.
The anti-dumping margin for Vietnamese bags is alleged to range from 30.74 to 75.13 percent. It allegedly fluctuates from 73.94 and 100.33 percent for Taiwan; and from 37.45 to 50.9 percent for Indonesia.
Because the US deems Vietnam a non-market economy, the complainants have nominated India for calculation of the dumping margin.
The DOC’s figures showed that the US imported PE bags worth about 19.2 million USD from Vietnam in 2006. The figure increased to 71.8 million USD in 2007 and 85.8 million USD last year.
Anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 0.2-77.33 percent were imposed on PE bags from China; 0.91-101.74 percent, Malaysia; and 0.62-122.88 percent, Thailand, in June 2003 after the two US companies accused three countries of dumping.
VietNamNet, VNA
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