The ministry stated that imports of HRC steel wider than 1,880 mm may have been misclassified, potentially causing a tax revenue loss of over USD 90 million to the state budget.
Recently, there has been a sharp increase in HRC steel imports, a critical raw material for the construction and manufacturing sectors. In June alone, imports of wide format hot-rolled steel reached 215,000 tons which means a 26 fold increase compared to the same period last year.
Imports from China surged significantly in the first half of 2025, reaching approximately 650,000 tons — 15 times higher than in 2024. Coils with a width of 2,000 mm accounted for 74% of this volume.
The Vietnam Trade Remedies Authority emphasized that HRC wider than 1,880 mm shares the same technical specifications, applications, and market characteristics as taxed products, suggesting that some importers may be exploiting this classification to evade duties.
The ministry warned that such misclassification practices could undermine trade safeguard measures introduced in 2018 and 2025, as well as the effectiveness of current anti-dumping regulations.
It is estimated that the existing 27.8% anti-dumping duty was not applied correctly in certain cases, leading to a loss of around VND 2.3 trillion (USD 90 million) in state revenue.
As tax evasion and unfair competition continue to pressure domestic steel producers, the ministry announced plans to review and strengthen inspection procedures and product classification standards in the near future.
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