Narrow loophole allows cheap steel imports to flood Vietnam

Vietnam has seen an influx of cheap hot-rolled coil (HRC) steel given a regulatory loophole that allows importers to bypass anti-dumping duties by slightly altering product dimensions.

The policy, centered around HRC coils no wider than 1,880mm, has enabled hundreds of thousands of metric tons of low-priced steel to enter the Southeast Asian country, undercutting local manufacturers and costing the state budget billions of Vietnamese dong. (VND1 billion = US$38,153)

In February 2025, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade officially imposed temporary anti-dumping duties of 23.58-27.83 percent on certain HRC products from China and India, but only for coils with a width not exceeding 1,880mm.

Just months later, HRC steel wider than 1,880mm began entering the country en masse.

According to customs statistics, in the first half of 2025, Vietnam imported nearly 650,000 metric tons of this type of steel from China, 15 times more than the same period in 2024.

In June alone, imports reached 215,000 metric tons, a 26-fold increase year on year.

The 1,880mm width is not a technical specification but merely an administrative tax threshold.

This means that by increasing the width of the steel coils by just a few millimeters, importers can entirely avoid the anti-dumping duties.

Industry insiders say that the imported wide-width HRC is currently VND1-2 million (US$38.2-76.4) cheaper per metric ton than domestically produced steel, placing significant pressure on local manufacturers.

According to experts, these products should be subject to duties.

Experts estimated that if steel imports which are wider than 1,880mm had been subject to the same duties as narrower coils, Vietnam could have collected an additional $90 million.

Dr. Hoang Ngoc Thuan from the Foreign Trade University noted that the influx of wide-width HRC following the imposition of trade defense measures is a textbook case of circumvention.

In April 2025, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam issued documents urging the General Department of Vietnam Customs to strengthen inspections of HRC shipments wider than 1,880mm.

However, no timely tax measures or policies have yet been issued.

A trade defense mechanism that relies solely on a technical threshold is highly vulnerable to circumvention, one expert remarked.

Thanh Ha - Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre News

(2025/07/29-17:31)

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