On October 2, 2020, USTR announced it had initiated Section 301 investigations into Vietnam’s policies & practices regarding currency valuation and the use of illegal timber in products manufactured in Vietnam. This could have an enormous impact on the trade community, with many U.S. importers having moved production lines to Vietnam following the rollout of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese-made products in 2018.
According to the official notices published in the Federal Register on October 8, 2020, Vietnam is one of the world’s largest exporters of wood products, and there is already evidence suggesting that Vietnam illegally imported timber from protected lands in Cambodia, as well as Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, USTR notes that “available analysis indicates that Vietnam’s currency has been undervalued over the past three years.”
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer advised the move to investigate Vietnam’s practices comes at the direction of President Donald Trump.
“Using illegal timber in wood products exported to the U.S. market harms the environment and is unfair to U.S. workers and businesses who follow the rules by using legally harvested timber. In addition, unfair currency practices can harm U.S. workers and businesses that compete with Vietnamese products that may be artificially lower-priced because of currency undervaluation.”
Written comments from the trade community may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal between now and November 12, 2020. For procedural questions concerning the submission of written comments, contact the Section 301 line at 202-395-5725.
Need help? Talk to Green’s Global Trade Experts at [email protected]
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