The Trade Remedies Council (TRC) under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has joined the US law firm Squire Sanders to organize a seminar on anti-dumping and anti-subsidy legal actions against Vietnamese exports, their impacts and countermeasures.

The seminar, held in Hanoi on March 10, provided updated information on issues related to Vietnamese commodities in the US and EU markets.

Tran Huu Huynh, Head of the Legal Department under the VCCI, said that despite the gradual recovery of the global economy, Vietnamese businesses still face an increasing number of trade barriers in export markets, especially anti-dumping and anti-subsidy suits.

Two major markets - the US and EU - have shown no signs of ending suits against Vietnam’s commodities such as fish, shrimp, plastic bags, sandals and shoes, bicycles, and compact lamps, he said.

Economic experts warned that Vietnamese exports are no longer exempt from anti-subsidy suits in the US.

They said each safeguard investigation presents a great challenge for Vietnamese exporters. Quite a few Vietnamese businesses have had difficulty countering this issue.

So far, there have been 42 antidumping suits lodged against Vietnamese exports, according to Nguyen Thi Thu Trang from TRC. Though small, this figure is relatively disturbing as the Vietnamese economy is still highly dependent on exports.

In addition, a number of businesses do not understand, or only partially understand, the nature and impacts of safeguard measures. Therefore, they have taken incorrect actions such as evading or not cooperating with the measures, which lead to adverse consequences.

Updated: 5:40 PM, 03/10/2010

Source: english.vovnews.vn