Vietnam denies subsidising tires, rejects U.S. finding

 Vietnam denies subsidising tires, rejects U.S. finding

HANOI, May 27 (Reuters) - Vietnam on Thursday denied a U.S. Commerce Department's finding that said the country's car and light truck tires are being unfairly subsidised due to a currency undervaluation.

"Vietnam doesn't dump nor subsidise its automobile tires for exports, and doesn't manipulate currency to gain unfair advantage in international trade," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in an emailed statement.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday said tires from Vietnam are being subsidised at a rate ranging from 6.23% to 7.89% through the conversion of U.S. dollars into Vietnamese dong at an undervalued exchange rate. read more

Hang said Vietnam will continue to work with the United States over the issue.

Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department refrained from formally branding Vietnam a currency manipulator. read more

Reporting by James Pearson; writing by Khanh Vu; editing by Jason Neely

U.S. Imposes Duty on Vietnam Tires, Cites ‘Undervalued’ Dong

By John Boudreau

November 5, 2020, 7:42 AM GMT+7 Updated on November 5, 2020, 3:52 PM GMT+7

The U.S. Department of Commerce is imposing a preliminary anti-subsidy tariff on car and truck tires from Vietnam, citing the Southeast Asian nation’s “undervalued currency” among the reasons for the decision.

It’s the first time the Commerce Department has based a countervailing duty on the value of a foreign currency, it said in a statement Wednesday. The tariffs range from 6.23% to 10.08%. U.S. imports of passenger tires from Vietnam were valued at about $469.6 million in 2019, the department said.

“Today’s preliminary determination represents an important step forward for the America First trade agenda,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in the statement. The Trump Administration “will continue addressing this issue to ensure American industry competes on a level playing field,” he said.

Vietnam has repeatedly denied it uses exchange rates to boost trade. “Vietnam has been closely monitoring the situation since it was raised,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs vice spokesperson Duong Hoai Nam said during a press briefing in Hanoi when asked about the tariffs. “We have explained to the U.S. our relevant policies.”

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in a meeting last month with Adam Boehler, head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, said the government doesn’t use its currency “to create a competitive advantage” for its manufacturing sectors.

The tariff follows the Trump administration’s October announcement of a trade investigation into Vietnam’s currency policy. The probe is also looking into the Southeast Asian country’s import of illegal timber.

U.S. Opens Trade Case to Probe Vietnam Currency Undervaluation

The Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of passenger tires from Vietnam based on the preliminary rates. It will make a final determination on the tariff on or about March 16, which is around the time the U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to rule on the case.

Vietnam’s premier, in his meeting with Boehler, asked the Trump administration to “have a more objective assessment of reality in Vietnam” and said that using its currency to gain advantage would “seriously hurt macroeconomic stability, people’s and investors’ confidence” while damaging the nation’s economy.

 With assistance by Nguyen Xuan Quynh

(Updates with foreign ministry vice spokesperson comment in the fourth paragraph.)