New trade probes against Vietnamese exports during the first nine months of 2020 doubled to 32 from 16 recorded in the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

To date, Vietnamese goods and products are subject to a total of 200 trade probes, in turn affecting a trade turnover of nearly US$12 billion.

The MoIT said at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is causing severe impacts on the global economy, trade tensions among economies have escalated and resulted in excessive use of trade protection measures.

Notably, most of Vietnamese exports that are under trade probes are the country’s staples, including metal, fiber, seafood, construction materials, and chemicals, among others.

The MoIT informed 62% of the number of trade probes against Vietnam’s exports are from the US, India, the EU, Turkey, Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, ASEAN countries have also been active in adopting trade protection measures, accounting for 20% of the total.

In this context, the MoIT has been providing support for local enterprises in protecting their lawful rights in international trade.

The MoIT has set up an early warning system to provide information for enterprises with list of goods facing high risk of trade protection measures.

During the investigation process, the MoIT would continue to request foreign authorities to treat Vietnam’s exporters in a fair and transparent manner, which fully comply with WTO regulations.

The MoIT also informed that Vietnam successfully appealed in 65 out of 151 closed cases, or 43% of the total.

Source: http://hanoitimes.vn/trade-probes-against-vietnam-exports-double-in-9-months-314532.html