G/SG/N/8/VNM/3  
G/SG/N/10/VNM/2  
G/SG/N/11/VNM/4  
 
2 August 2016  
(16-4110)  Page: 1/6  
Committee on Safeguards  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(B) OF THE AGREEMENT 
ON SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING A SERIOUS INJURY OR 
THREAT THEREOF CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS 
 
NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1( С) OF THE  
AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS  
 
NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 9, FOOTNOTE 2 
OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS 
VIET NAM 
(Certain semi-finished and finished products of alloy and non-alloy steel) 
The following communication, dated 28 July 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Viet Nam. 
 
_______________ 
  
In accordance with Ordinance No. 42/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated 25 May 2002 of the Standing 
Committee of the National Assembly on Safeguards on Imports of Foreign Goods into Vietnam and Decree No. 150/2003/ND-CP dated 8 December 2003 of the Government providing detailed 
regulations for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into 
Vietnam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade no tifies the application of definitive safeguard 
measures on Certain semi-finished and finished products of alloy and non-alloy steel under HS 
code of 7207.11.00; 7207.19.00; 7207.20.29; 7207.20.99; 7224.90.00; 7213.10.00; 7213.91.20; 
7214.20.31; 7214.20.41; 7229.90.00; 7228.30.10; 9811.00.00  1. Background  
 
On 25 December 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued the Decision No. 14296/QD-BCT 
on the initiation of safeguard investigation on certain semi-finished and finished products of alloy 
and non-alloy steel (hereinafter referred to as "sub ject products") imported from various countries.  
 2. Subject products  
 
The steel products covered by the investigation include:  
a. Semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel products; 
b. Bars & rods of iron or non-alloy steel. 
Certain steel products under HS Code: 7207.11.00; 7207.19.00; 7207.20.29; 7207.20.99; 
7224.90.00; 7213.10.00; 7213.91.20; 7214.20.31; 7214.20.41; 7227.90.00; 7228.30.10; 
9811.00.00. 
 G/SG/N/8/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/2 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/4 
 
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  3. Safeguard measures applied 
 3.1. Semi-finished products of iron  or non-alloy steel products 
 
Ministry of Industry and Trade shall apply safeguar d measure in the form of import duty on semi-
finished products of iron or non-alloy steel products imported into Vietnam as follows: 
 
Effective period Safeguard duties 
22/3/2016 (the date which provisional safeguard 
measure take into effect) – 21/3/2017 23.3% 
22/3/2017 – 21/3/2018 21.3% 
22/3/2018 – 21/3/2019 19.3% 
22/3/2019 – 21/3/2020 17.3% 
From 22/3/2020 onwards 0% (if not extended) 
 
The safeguard measure applied to semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel products in the 
form of import duty under HS code as follows: 
 
No. HS Code Description 
7207 Semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel. 
1 7207.11.00 - - Of rectangular (including sq uare) cross-section, the width 
measuring less than twice the thickness 
2 7207.19.00 - - Other 
7207.20 - Containing by weight 0.25% or more of carbon: 
3 7207.20.29 - - - - Other 
4 7207.20.99 - - - - Other 
7224 Other alloy steel in ingots or other primary forms; semi-finished 
products of other alloy steel. 
5 7224.90.00 - Other 
 
3.2. Bars & rods of iron or non-alloy steel 
 Ministry of Industry and Trade shall apply safeguar d measure in the form of import duty on Bars & 
rods of iron or non-alloy steel imported into Vietnam as follows: 
 
Effective period Safeguard duties 
22/3/2016 (the date which provisional safeguard 
measure take into effect) – 01/8/2016 (one day before the definitive safeguard measure take into effect) 14.2% (provisional safeguard measure) 
02/8/2016 (the date which definitive safeguard measure 
take into effect) – 21/3/2017 15.4% (definitive safeguard measure first year) 
22/3/2017 – 21/3/2018 13.9% 
22/3/2018 – 21/3/2019 12.4% 
22/3/2019 – 21/3/2020 10.9% 
From 22/3/2020 onwards 0% (if not extended) 
 
 G/SG/N/8/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/2 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/4 
 
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  The definitive safeguard measure which applied to Bars & rods of iron or non-alloy steel in the 
form of import duty under HS as is follows:  
No. HS code Description 
7213 Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularl y wound coils, of iron or non-alloy 
steel. 
1 7213.10.00 - Containing indentations, ribs, groov es or other deformations produced 
during the rolling process 
2 7213.91.20 - - - Of a kind used for conc rete reinforcement (rebars) 
7214 Other bars and rods of iron or non- alloy steel, not further worked than 
forged, hot-rolled, hot-drawn or hot-extracted, but including those twisted after rolling. 
7214.20 - Containing indentations, ribs, groov es or other deformations produced 
during the rolling process or twisted after rolling: 
- - Containing by weight le ss than 0.6% of carbon: 
- - - Of circular cross-section: 
3 7214.20.31 - - - Of a kind used for conc rete reinforcement (rebars) 
4 7214.20.41 - - - Of a kind used for conc rete reinforcement (rebars) 
7227 Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularl y wound coils, of other alloy steel. 
5 7227.90.00 - Other 
7228 Other bars and rods of other alloy st eel; angles, shapes and sections, of 
other alloy steel; hollow drill bars and rods, of a lloy or non-alloy steel. 
7228.30 - Other bars and rods, not further wo rked than hot-rolled, hot-drawn or 
extruded: 
6 7228.30.10  - - Of circular cross-section 
9811  
7 9811.00.00 Alloy steel contain Boron and/or Ch rome except hot-rolled steel. 
 
4.  Countries or origin of products under investigation subject to definitive safeguard 
measure 
 
Definitive safeguard measure is applied to imported products from all countries under 
investigation, except for countries excluded from the investigation in accordance with the 
regulation on negligible volume of imports (Article 13 of Decree 150/2003/ND-CP of 
8 December 2003 detailing regulations for implementation of Ordinance on safeguards on imports of foreign goods into Vietnam). Please see the list of countries excluded from the investigation in 
the Appendix below. 
 
5.  Effective date of the de finitive safeguard measures 
 
Definitive safeguard measures will take effect after 15 days from the date of signing of the 
Decision of the Minister of Industry and Trade, i.e. 02 August 2016 . 
 
6.  Duration of the definitive safeguard measures: 
 Definitive safeguard measures will be applied for a period of 4 years since the effective date.  
7.  Basis for application of the definitive safeguard measures 
 Based on the information provided by interested parties, the Investigating Authority determines as 
follows: 
  
-  The domestic industry is a group of steel companies whose manufacturing certain 
semi-finished and finished products of alloy and non-alloy steel in Vietnam, that 
represent more than 50% of total Vietnam production. 
 
-  Domestically produced like product consists of certain semi-finished and finished 
products of alloy and non-alloy steel. These products have the same components of G/SG/N/8/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/2 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/4 
 
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  raw materials, specification, production me thods, purposes of use with the imported 
subject products above. 
 
-  The volume of subject products imported to Vietnam increased in both relative and 
absolute terms. 
 
-  The domestic industry has suffered serious injury. Specifically, the domestic industry 
has got losing market share, reduction of productivity, turnover, employment, 
increase of inventories in the period of 2012-2015, especially 2015. 
 
-  The increase of import of subject products  has caused serious injury to the domestic 
industry 
 
-  The economic crisis in China in recent years and the excess of capacity with the large 
amount of inventories of steel products in China; and the application of trade remedy 
measures to certain semi-finished and steel finished products of some countries are considered as "unforeseen development" an d are the reasons for the surge of imports 
to Vietnam. 
 8. Further information  
 
Information on the decision to apply definitive safeguard measures on subject products is 
accessible at the website of the Mi nistry of Industry and Trade ( http://www.moit.gov.vn ) and 
Vietnam Competition Authority ( http://www.vca.gov.vn  or http://www.qlct.gov.vn ). 
 
Further information and comments should be sent to:  
Trade Remedies Investigation Division 
Vietnam Competition Authority - Ministry of Industry and Trade Address: 25 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam Phone: (+84 4) 222.05002 (ext: 1035) (Ms. Mai Quynh) 
Fax: (+84 4) 222.05003 
Email : quynhpm@moit.gov.vn ; ninhtt@moit.gov.vn .  G/SG/N/8/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/2 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/4 
 
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APPENDIX 
LIST OF COUNTRIES EXCLUDED FROM THE INVESTIGATION 
 
1. Sub-Sahara Africa 
 
Angola  Gambia, The  Rwanda  
Benin Ghana  Sao Tome and Principe  
Botswana  Guinea  Senegal  
Burkina Faso  Guinea-Bissau  Sierra Leone  
Burundi  Kenya  Somalia  
Cabo Verde  Lesotho  South Africa  
Cameroon  Liberia  South Sudan  
Central African Republic  Madagascar  Sudan  
Chad Malawi  Swaziland  
Comoros  Mali Tanzania  
Congo, Dem. Rep.  Mauritania  Togo 
Congo, Rep.  Mauritius  Uganda  
Cote d'Ivoire  Mozambique  Zambia  
Eritrea  Namibia  Zimbabwe  
Ethiopia  Niger  
Gabon  Nigeria   
 
2. Asia Pacific  
American Samoa Myanmar 
Cambodia Palau 
Fiji Papua New Guinea 
Indonesia Philippines 
Kiribati Samoa 
Korea, Dem. Rep. Solomon Islands 
Lao PDR Thailand 
Malaysia Timor-Leste 
Marshall Islands Tonga 
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Tuvalu 
Mongolia Vanuatu 
 
3. Europe and Central Asia  
Albania  Macedonia, FYR  
Armenia  Moldova  
Azerbaijan  Montenegro  
Belarus  Romania  G/SG/N/8/VNM/3 • G/SG/N/10/VNM/2 • G/SG/N/11/VNM/4 
 
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  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Serbia  
Bulgaria  Tajikistan  
Georgia  Turkey  
Kazakhstan  Turkmenistan  
Kosovo  Ukraine  
Kyrgyz Republic  Uzbekistan  
 
4. Latin America and Caribbean  
Belize Guyana  
Bolivia  Haiti 
Brazil Honduras  
Brazil Jamaica  
Colombia  Mexico  
Costa Rica  Nicaragua  
Cuba Panama  
Dominica  Paraguay  
Dominican Republic  Peru 
Ecuador  St. Lucia  
El Salvador  St. Vincent and the Grenadines  
Grenada  Suriname  
Guatemala  
 5. Middle East and North Africa   
Algeria  Libya 
Djibouti  Morocco  
Egypt, Arab Rep.  Syrian Arab Republic  
Iran, Islamic Rep.  Tunisia  
Iraq West Bank and Gaza  
Jordan  Yemen, Rep.  
Lebanon   
 
6. South Asia 
 
Afghanistan  Maldives  
Bangladesh  Nepal 
Bhutan  Pakistan  
India Sri Lanka  
 
__________