Trade Commission Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Vietnamese Plywood Sold Below Normal Value

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Trade Commission of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 17th made a final ruling that the domestic industry has suffered damage due to the dumping imports of Vietnamese plywood, regarding the anti-dumping investigation on Vietnamese plywood requested by the Korea Plywood Association.

Accordingly, the Trade Commission decided to recommend the Minister of Strategy and Finance to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from 9.18% to 10.65% for the next five years.

Once the Trade Commission notifies Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, of the final ruling, Minister Hong will make the final decision on whether to impose anti-dumping duties within 12 months from the investigation start date of December 3 last year (with a possible 6-month extension).

The Trade Commission conducted investigations including written surveys of domestic producers, importers and consumers, suppliers, stakeholder meetings, public hearings, and on-site inspections in Korea in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Anti-Dumping Agreement and customs laws.

As a result, it was judged that all Vietnamese products were imported below normal prices, causing actual damage to the domestic industry such as market share decline, employment reduction, and operating profit decrease.

Plywood is used for various purposes such as concrete formwork, interior and exterior building materials, interior decoration, and export packaging boxes. The domestic market size was about 900 billion KRW (approximately 1.7 million ㎥) in 2018. The market share of Vietnamese plywood is about 40%.

Furthermore, the Trade Commission decided to initiate an anti-dumping investigation on 'Flat-rolled Products of Stainless Steel' from China, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

POSCO applied for an investigation necessary to impose anti-dumping duties in July, claiming damage to the domestic industry caused by dumping imports of stainless steel flat-rolled products from China, Indonesia, and Taiwan.

Stainless steel flat-rolled products refer to stainless steel grades with a thickness exceeding 8 mm that have undergone hot rolling, cold rolling, and other additional processing.

They are widely used as core materials in consumer goods and industrial machinery parts such as automobiles, shipbuilding, aviation, chemical plants, electronics, home appliances, medical devices, storage tanks, heat exchangers, elevators, sinks, building interior and exterior materials, tableware, and kitchen utensils.