400 per cent duty on Vietnam
Customs officials have been ordered to collect cash deposits at rates as high as 456.23 per cent on imports of the steel products produced in Vietnam.
Hanoi/Singapore: The US Commerce Department imposed duties of more than 400 per cent on steel imports from Vietnam, accusing some businesses of shipping products from the Southeast Asian nation to evade the levies in a further escalation of tension between the two trading partners.
In three preliminary circumvention rulings on Vietnamese steel, the Commerce Department said certain products produced in South Korea and Taiwan were shipped to Vietnam for minor processing before being exported to US as corrosion-resistant steel products and cold-rolled steel. Customs officials have been ordered to collect cash deposits at rates as high as 456.23 per cent on imports of the steel products produced in Vietnam using material from South Korea and Taiwan.
The US is hardening its rhetoric against Vietnam, one of its major trading partners and an economy that’s benefiting from President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Trump described Vietnam last week as “almost the single-worst abuser of everybody” when asked if he wanted to impose tariffs on the nation.
—Bloomberg