Trade Cases

Commerce finds Vietnam still a 'non-market economy', domestic steel interests cheer

Written by Ethan Bernard

August 2, 2024

The US Department of Commerce has announced its determination that Vietnam will keep its classification as a “non-market economy” (NME) country.

As a result, the methodology used for calculating US antidumping duties (ADs) on imports from the country will remain the same, Commerce said. 

“Despite Vietnam’s substantive reforms made over the past 20 years, the extensive government involvement in Vietnam’s economy distorts Vietnamese prices and costs and ultimately render them unusable for the purpose of calculating US antidumping duties,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

“Commerce will continue to use market-based prices and costs from a country at a comparable level of economic development to Vietnam that produces comparable merchandise to calculate ADs,” the statement continued.

The department said it received more than 36,000 pages of comments from US domestic industries as well as the government of Vietnam. The determination was based on a “thorough evaluation” of all the comments collected.

Recall that Commerce said in October it would begin reviewing Vietnam’s NME status shortly after Vietnam filed an official request to be considered “a market economy.” 

AISI, SMA respond

 Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), earlier this year testified before Commerce on this issue. He applauded today’s decision.

“Granting market economy status to Vietnam was not justified by the facts – given the significant role of state-owned enterprises in the Vietnamese economy,” Dempsey said in statement.

He cited Vietnam’s role “in circumventing US trade law orders on goods from China and other countries, its continued currency manipulation, its ongoing export restrictions on steelmaking raw materials, and its other trade restrictive practices.”

Likewise, Philip K. Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), praised the decision.

“I think this confirms what most people already know is that Vietnam is nowhere near ready to become a market economy,” Bell told SMU.

He said the country still has state-controlled enterprises and close links to China’s government. “And they have a lot of work to do on their environmental, labor, and human rights issues.”

“So we want to thank Commerce for coming to a logical conclusion,” Bell said.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

Read more from Ethan Bernard

Latest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz: The consequences of a new barrage of trade cases on coated steel

Domestic steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a barrage of trade cases last week. This is hardly news. Ever since the Commerce Department ruled that Vietnam is still treated as a nonmarket economy (NME) for antidumping purposes, many in the business expected new cases on the product that Vietnam excels at—“corrosion-resistant steel.” Nor is it a surprise that these cases roped in nine countries in addition to Vietnam: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All these countries rank in the top ten exporters of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States. These petitions are a broadside against coated flat-rolled steel imports.