WEAK LINK: The US has alleged that Taiwanese firms are processing steel in Vietnam to avoid tariffs, but steel exports to Vietnam have seen slow growth, officials said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 04, 2019
By: Natasha Li  /  Staff reporter

Facing potential US tariffs of more than 400 percent on Vietnamese steel exports, China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼), Taiwan’s largest steel manufacturer, yesterday said that it is looking into the matter and would react accordingly.

The company’s remark came after the US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that it would impose duties of up to 456 percent on certain steel products made in Taiwan and South Korea that are shipped to Vietnam for minor processing and then exported to the US.

The department said that it had found corrosion-resistant steel products and cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using a substrate of Taiwanese or South Korean origin had circumvented US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

China Steel Sumikin Vietnam Joint Stock Co (中鋼住金), based in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, uses raw materials from Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp (台塑河靜鋼鐵興業), a joint venture by CSC, Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團) and Nippon Steel Corp, CSC told the Taipei Times.
[FULL  STORY]