Vietnam became the third country to have an anti-dumping tariff from South Korea. China and Malaysia plywood producers already lost a big market share in South Korea.

On August 17th, 2020, the Trade Commission under the Korean Ministry of Trade, finally determined that there was dumping of Vietnamese plywood, which caused injuries on Korean plywood industries.

Accordingly, the committee will recommend that the Minister of Planning and Finance impose anti-dumping duties of 9.18-10.65% on Vietnamese plywood within the next five years.

Before the decision, South Korean Trade Commission conducted written investigations and on-site inspections of Korean plywood manufacturers, consumers, and suppliers in accordance with the WTO’s anti-dumping agreement and tariff law, and finally determined that the import price of Vietnamese products was lower than the normal price, which led to a decline in the market share of Korean made products and employment. Decrease, operating profit decreased.

As a result, the Trade Commission will notify the Minister of Planning and Finance of the above results. The Finance Minister must decide whether to impose anti-dumping duties on it within 12 months from the investigation start date (December 3, 2019) (can be extended for 6 months).

As of 2018, the market size of South Korean plywood is 900 billion won, of which the market share of Vietnamese products exceeds 40%.

The main target of this tariff is eucalyptus plywood from Vietnam. It has a tariff advantage against Chinese and Malaysian plywood which are already under anti-dumping for many years. Vietnamese plywood has a huge price advantage against other competitors on the market.

Final Decision on September 17, 2020

On September 17, 2020, the Korean Trade Commission issued Resolution No. 2020-20 (Relief Investigation No. 23-2019-7), which made a positive final anti-dumping ruling on plywood originating in Vietnam, and suggested that the products involved should be levied Anti-dumping duties from 9.18% to 10.65% are valid for 5 years. The Korean tax numbers of the products involved are 4412.31.4011, 4412.31.4019, 4412.31.4021, 4412.30. , 4412.33.4020, 4412.33.5000, 4412.33.6000, 4412.33.7000, 4412.34.4010, 4412.34.4020, 4412.34.5000, 4412.34.6000, 4412.34.7000, 4412.39.9000, 4412.99.4100, 4412.99.5100, 4412.99 .6100 and 4412.99.9100.