Vietnamese businesses respond to new U.S. tariff policies from a legal perspective

The US market, with export turnover from Vietnam exceeding 120 billion USD in 2024, is not only the "promised land" but also the main driving force for Vietnam's economic growth. Accounting for nearly 30% of total exports, the US plays a central role in the trade strategy of thousands of Vietnamese enterprises. However, when President Donald Trump returns to office on January 20, 2025 and implements the "America First" policy with tough tariffs, in addition to imposing direct tariffs on certain items, another serious legal threat has emerged, namely anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.

Stepped up to protect the U.S. domestic manufacturing industry, these investigations could lead to retroactive tariffs, import bans, and the collapse of Vietnam's market share in the world's largest market. With an estimated Vietnam-US trade surplus of $110 billion in 2024, key industries such as steel, textiles, fisheries, and furniture are at risk of being targeted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. In the face of this complicated legal problem, how do Vietnamese businesses need to respond to maintain their position in the US market? This article will analyze the challenges of anti-dumping/anti-subsidy and solutions of businesses from a legal perspective.

Anti-dumping/anti-subsidy: Legal "blade" in the US market

Recently, on March 17, 2025, the US Department of Commerce received a dossier requesting an anti-dumping investigation with polypropylene plastic boxes imported from Vietnam and an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation with the same product from China[1]. This is considered a strong blow to Vietnam's plastic product exporters.

Under the Tariff Act of 1930 (Section 731 for anti-dumping, Section 701 for anti-subsidy) the U.S. has the right to initiate an investigation when it suspects that the imported goods are dumping (i.e., sold below normal value, causing damage to the U.S. domestic manufacturing industry) or receive illegal subsidies (supported by the government of the exporting country (such as tax exemption,  preferential loans), creating unfair competitive advantages).

Vietnam, with its status as a country with a large trade surplus and an intermediary role in global supply chains, is easily targeted for these investigations. In the past, Vietnam's export products have also been subject to anti-dumping duties and anti-subsidy duties, for example, shrimp with anti-subsidy duties from 1.69% to a maximum of 196% by 2024[2], solar panels with anti-dumping duties from 21% to 217%.[3]

Now, with stricter tariff policies from President Donald Trump's administration, the risk to Vietnamese exporters from goods subject to anti-dumping/anti-subsidy investigations is extremely large.

Challenges for Vietnamese businesses

Anti-dumping/anti-subsidy investigations pose many challenges for Vietnamese businesses. Firstly, regarding the investigation process, after receiving the petition, the US Department of Commerce will have 20 days to review the lawsuit and issue a decision to initiate/or not initiate an investigation. In case of initiating an investigation, the U.S. Department of Commerce will send to the enterprises accused of dumping/receiving subsidies a quantity and value questionnaire. The deadline for businesses to respond is usually about 30 days. This is a time challenge for Vietnamese businesses, especially small businesses. This challenge comes from the fact that businesses will have to collect a large amount of information in a short time, which can be difficult to prepare properly if the business is not prepared in advance or has built a scientific information management system.  systematically. The information to be answered usually includes the domestic selling price, export price, production cost, and origin of raw materials. Omissions or delays in filing can lead to adverse conclusions, with the highest default tax rate for businesses.

Secondly, not building clear criteria for determining selling prices is also a risk for businesses when having to answer questions from the US Department of Commerce. Accordingly, if there is no specific basis for determining the selling price of goods, leading to the selling price being significantly lower than the selling price in the market of the alternative country, Vietnamese enterprises will be highly likely to be subject to anti-dumping duties.

Thirdly, the legal consequences from the imposition of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties are extremely heavy, because the damage investigation period is often pushed back a long time, therefore, if there is a conclusion about the act of dumping or receiving subsidies,  The enterprise is fully likely to be subject to retroactive tax for the previous period of damage investigation. In addition, it can be mentioned that there are accompanying consequences such as an import ban if there is a serious violation.

What solutions businesses can take into account

Business adjustments

Adjusting business activities is considered an internal solution that businesses can implement on their own to respond to US anti-dumping/anti-subsidy investigations. Accordingly, businesses need to have clear criteria for determining the selling price structure based on the provisions of the Price Law 2024, and at the same time conduct continuous surveys on the selling prices in the US market of goods from similar markets in Vietnam to have a flexible and reasonable price adjustment plan.

Subsequently, strict control of input materials will also help businesses avoid accusations of trade intermediaries. Accordingly, making an explanation of the production process to prove significant transformation according to Circular 05/2018/TT-BCT can be a long-term solution that businesses need to take into account.

In addition, the requirements for archiving records, especially accounting documents (raw material purchase contracts, input invoices,...) also need to be paid special attention to and complied with by enterprises, when these requirements have been specified in the Accounting Law. The change from the basic stages of operations will also help businesses more facilitate the process of collecting, synthesizing and providing evidence against their allegations.

Attention to the right to self-protection under international commercial law

Despite exporting goods in the US market, many Vietnamese businesses are still quite unfamiliar with the concept of anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigation. This leads to the enterprise not being fully aware of the rights that it can enjoy/be exercised during the investigation process.

Submitting documents on time is one of the rights and obligations of businesses. As mentioned above, when the deadline for submitting documents and answering questions in the Quantity and Value questionnaire expires, businesses almost deprive themselves of their right to accountability.

In addition, the enterprise under investigation can also directly register to participate in the public hearing of the US International Trade Commission to present legal evidence (financial statements, invoices) to prove that there is no damage to the US manufacturing industry. This is permitted in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade - GATT (1994).

Meanwhile, if it is subject to an anti-subsidy investigation, the enterprise can provide evidence proving that the subsidies it receives (if any) are legal, come from the provisions of Vietnamese law and are not intended to be detrimental to the US market.  specifically, such as the provisions of Decree 57/2021/ND-CP on corporate income tax incentives for projects producing supporting industry products or other regulations on incentives and supports.

Seek assistance from the authorities

In addition to the internal solutions as above, when subject to anti-dumping/anti-subsidy investigation, enterprises can also seek support by notifying the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is one of the solutions specified in Decree 10/2018/ND-CP. Accordingly, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, depending on each case, will have options to discuss with the US, support the provision of documents during the investigation process or further develop compensation plans, seek retaliatory measures or initiate lawsuits.

In addition, participating and associating with businesses in the same industry will also be a solution that businesses should pay attention to, because the voice and support of a community will help businesses gain more experience in the investigation process.  

In short, besides the concern about the imposition of direct tariffs on some items, the risk of being investigated by anti-dumping/anti-subsidy will be a permanent danger for businesses. In order to minimize the negative impact of the investigations, it is necessary for exporters to proactively respond at this time, with the desire to maintain one of their largest export markets.

Lawyer Nguyen Nhat Duong

HM&P Law Firm

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