Vitas’ representative will have five minutes to express his viewpoint at the first hearing before the US Department of Commerce (DOC) on April 24. This is the opportunity to provide US side with information about Vietnam’s garments exports to US.  Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Quoc An said that Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US would not affect the US industry, while creating more jobs for US traders, and benefiting US customers.
How has Vitas prepared for the hearing on April 24?

The association has drafted the 5-minute speech as required by the US side and we have well prepared our personnel. Of course, the hearing will be just one of the steps DOC will take in the process of kicking off the Vietnam apparel imports monitory scheme. DOC wants to hear from the involved parties. Those who advocate trade liberalisation will also participate in the hearing. They are associations, retailers and importers representing 15mil labourers in these enterprises, and they want to liberalise trade with countries in the world. These organisations aim to support Vietnam’s garment industry and protect the benefit of US customers. There will also be at the hearing organisations and those who aim to protect the benefit of US domestic textile companies.

As such, there will be two viewpoints expressed at the hearing.In its presentation, Vinatas will focus on the fact that Vietnam only exports apparel products to the US, not textile products. Therefore, we can affirm that Vietnam’s exports do not affect the US textile industry; they even create more jobs for US traders and bring US customers good products at reasonable prices.

You said that many big orders had been cancelled by US importers. Could you please talk more about the performance of Vietnamese garment companies now?

It is true that many US importers are worried that the anti-dumping mechanism will cause risks to their businesses. Therefore, they have been very hesitant in placing orders for the third and fourth quarters. Besides, they have reduced the volume of orders, including Nike and Adidas.

In general, all of them now have the wait-and-see attitude. Meanwhile, many garment companies, especially ones in the central region, now have to cut working hours because they have not got orders. Most of them are now trying to seek orders from other countries.

What consequences will the anti-dumping mechanism, if imposed on Vietnam’s exports, cause for the Vietnam’s textile and garment industry?

First, I have to say that the US is still under the monitoring process. The US authorities will kick off the investigation if they find it necessary. If they discovered dumping activities from the investigation, the anti-dumping tax rates would be initiated. Therefore, it is too early and groundless to talk about the anti-dumping tax. We are making every effort to deal with the issue and prevent anti-dumping investigations.

Many enterprises are very worried about their future business in case the anti-dumping mechanism is imposed on Vietnam’s apparel exports.

I have many times told enterprises that from now until the end of 2007 there will be no signs of an anti-dumping investigation, and they should feel comfortable fulfilling orders. The most important thing they need to care about is that they should choose orders with high value and should not pick the ones with low value, otherwise, this could be misunderstood as dumping activity.

It is clear that the Vietnam apparel imports monitoring scheme has been putting big difficulties on Vietnamese garment companies. What is Vietnam’s garment industry doing to cope with these difficulties?

Vitas has advised enterprises to seek other alternative markets and we will assist enterprises in doing that. Enterprises should boost exports to Europe, and think of restoring the traditional Eastern European market. In addition, they should increase exports to Japan and other East Asian and North Asian countries.

At a recent workshop on the apparel importers monitoring scheme, which saw the participation of officials from DOC as well, officials affirmed that the US had not recognised Vietnam’s economy as a market economy. Is this a difficulty and a barrier for Vietnam’s apparel exports to the US?

Yes, it is. A non-market economy may lead to the misunderstanding that the state subsidises its industries. In our condition, we must prove that the State does not subsidise garment companies. Within the WTO, a non-market economy would meet with a loss.

We are trying to provide the US side with figures and documents showing that the garment industry receives little support from the Government compared to other industries. Since May 30, 2006, the Government has cut all support, both direct and indirect.

Thank you very much.