9:26:27 AM | 23/10/2008
Polyethylene retail carrier bags, or plastic bags, imported from Vietnam may face an anti-dumping lawsuit in the U.S., the Thanh Nien Daily newspaper reported.
There are warning signs that import of the products at low prices has increased, Ken Pierce, a lawyer from Hughes Hubbard & Reed, spoke at a conference organized by the Vietnam Plastic Association last Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City to prepare for the eventuality.
Pierce said Vietnam was the second largest exporter of plastic bags to the U.S. in the first eight months this year. It is also the largest among plastic bag exporters that are not subject to anti-dumping taxes from the U.S.
He said exporters from Vietnam have offered the lowest prices for their products and American rivals who have suffered overall decline in revenues, considered this an unfair trading practice.
The lawyer said U.S. petitioners, supported by another U.S. law firm, King & Spalding, had sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, opposing the government’s policy to offer generalized system of preferences (GSP) to Vietnam’s plastic bag exporters.
Ho Duc Lam, secretary general of the Vietnam Plastic Association, said plastic bags from Vietnam have enjoyed import tax rates of less than 5 per cent.
Last year, Vietnam shipped some US$650 million worth of plastic products worldwide, including more than US$350 million worth of polyethylene retail carrier bags and other kinds of plastic packages to the U.S, according to the association.
The association expects the country’s total plastic export value this year to hit US$900 million-US$950 million.
Foreign-invested businesses in Vietnam are main exporters of plastic bags to the U.S. and there are only three Vietnamese plastic bag producers shipping their products to the foreign market.
About 2,000 enterprises are operating in Vietnam’s plastic industry. They import almost all the raw material needed for production. (Thanh Nien Daily)
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