Navigating Anti-Dumping Challenges in Canada for Vietnamese Enterprises
LexNovum Lawyers
02/09/2023
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a major trade agreement that removes tariff barriers among 12 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Under the CPTPP, Vietnamese enterprises exporting goods to member countries enjoy a reduced import duty rate of 0%, compared to the 10% to 30% rates faced by other regional countries and China under the MFN regime within the WTO framework.
This advantage encourages Vietnamese businesses to expand globally, exporting goods to vast and appealing international markets, notably Canada. To mitigate the negative effects of this trend on certain local manufacturing sectors, Canada applies anti-dumping and countervailing measures in accordance with the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), Canada’s unfair trade legislation.
Currently, numerous Vietnamese enterprises face the possibility of “anti-dumping and countervailing investigations” when exporting goods to Canada. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, by the end of 2022, Canada had initiated 18 investigations on Vietnamese exports. Currently, Canada has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on 7 imported products from Vietnam, including carbon steel pipes, cold-rolled steel, concrete reinforcing bars, copper tube fittings, corrosion-resistant steel plate, oil country tubular goods, and upholstered domestic seats.
In practice, both Vietnamese exporters and Canadian importers subject to Canada’s investigations show little interest in pursuing review procedures, mainly because they have no knowledge of the Canadian procedures and how they can tale steps to continue to export their products to Canada by obtaining competent representation to argue their case. Consequently, this leads to unfavorable outcomes in investigations, inflicting significant losses on the business interests of these enterprises and affecting the rest of the market, especially newcomers in the export industry.
Understanding this, the collaboration between a Vietnamese LexNovum Lawyers (LNV) and Canadian RC International Trade Consultants (RCITC) provides specialized legal advisory services and practical solutions to assist Vietnamese enterprises in dealing with anti-dumping and countervailing investigations when exporting goods to Canada.
Mr. Richard Chung, founder of RCITC, is an expert with over 23 years of experience as a Senior Investigator with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), having participated in numerous anti-dumping and countervailing investigations in Europe, North and South America, Mexico, China, and other countries. For the past 15 years, Mr. Richard Chung has successfully represented exporters, foreign governments, and Canadian importers, providing them with competent professional services in in anti-dumping and subsidy investigations.
In addition, Vietnamese educated Lawyer Nguyen Trung Hieu of LexNovum Lawyers, is one of the few pioneering Vietnamese lawyers who have ventured into the Canadian market, seeking and evaluating partners, and connecting and coordinating Vietnamese legal services with top Canadian experts to address these complex legal tasks. The LexNovum Lawyers office in Ho Chi Minh City, directly trained and mentored by Mr. Richard Chung, will be the facilitator and provide on-site support for data collection and litigation.
Pursuing the goal of “accompanying Vietnamese businesses on the global stage,” LexNovum Lawyers and Lawyer Nguyen Trung Hieu, alongside RCITC, proudly bring satisfaction to clients through our experience, specialized knowledge, and professional working style in delivering extraordinarily legal services.
