Five companies that did not cooperate in the US lawsuit against Vietnamese paper plate exports have been subject to provisional preliminary duties of up to 237.65%.

Although the Department of Trade Remedies (Ministry of Industry and Trade) has repeatedly noted the need for coordination in foreign lawsuits against Vietnamese exported goods, there are still businesses that are temporarily or officially subject to high taxes due to their failure to cooperate with foreign plaintiffs.

Most recently, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a preliminary conclusion of the anti-subsidy investigation into paper plates (HS codes 4823.69.0040 or 4823.61.0040 and can be packaged with other products under HS codes 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000) imported from Vietnam.

This case was initiated by DOC on February 14 this year at the request of US paper plate manufacturers.

In this case, DOC selected 2 mandatory defendants. However, 1 mandatory defendant declined to participate in the case, leaving only 1 mandatory defendant in this case.

According to the preliminary conclusion just issued, the sole defendant company in the case is subject to a temporary anti-subsidy tax of 5.48%.

There were 5 non-cooperative companies, including: 1 defendant company refused to participate in the case and 4 companies did not answer questions about the quantity and value subject to provisional anti-subsidy duties of up to 237.65%. This duty is calculated based on available adverse data.

The remaining Vietnamese companies are subject to a 5.48% tax rate at the sole defendant company's rate.

Based on this preliminary determination, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require deposits for shipments exported to the United States under the above provisional countervailing duty rates from July 1, 2024.

The Department of Trade Remedies said that next, DOC plans to conduct on-site inspections to verify the information provided by Vietnamese enterprises. This is one of the bases for DOC to issue the final conclusion, giving official tax rates to Vietnamese enterprises.

Interested parties may also submit comments on the case no later than 7 days after the date the final examination report is issued. Rebuttals to comments from other parties shall be submitted no later than 5 days after the deadline for submitting comments.

DOC may then hold a Hearing if requested by the parties and issue a final determination (expected on November 5, 2024 if not extended).

Therefore, the Trade Remedies Authority recommends that relevant enterprises prepare and cooperate well with DOC in the upcoming review as well as send comments with DOC's preliminary conclusions if necessary.