Vietnam steel industry asks for an increase in import duties on steel

Vietnamese steel companies demanded that the Ministry of Finance make certain adjustments to the import duties on steel products, claiming that lower import duties cause material injury to the domestic market. Vietnamese steel companies asserted that the 5 percent duty on stainless steel products causes cheaper and low-quality Indian products to flood in the Vietnamese market. The fact that imported materials are far cheaper than the domestic products causes Vietnamese producers to face great losses. Therefore, the Vietnamese producers asked the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to increase the import duty on stainless steel products from the current 5 percent to 10-15 percent. The producers also claimed that Vietnam is currently applying the lowest import duty on steel products among ASEAN countries. Moreover, the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) also demanded the MOF to increase the import duty on steel wires from the current 5 percent to 10 percent.