Vietnam's government has taken a decisive step to protect its domestic steel industry from what it sees as unfair trade practices.
The story begins in July 2025, when Vietnam placed an anti-dumping tariff on a specific type of Chinese steel called Hot-Rolled Coil (HRC). However, this tariff only applied to steel coils up to a certain width (1,880 mm). Some importers quickly found a way around this regulation by making minor changes to their products.
To avoid the tariff, these importers began bringing in steel coils that were just slightly wider—between 1,880 mm and 2,300 mm. This practice, known as circumvention, led to a surge in imports of this wider steel. This effectively defeated the purpose of the original tariff and began to harm local Vietnamese steelmakers, which was exactly what the initial measure was designed to prevent.
This situation prompted a clear and logical sequence of actions from regulators. First, the original July 2025 tariff established a specific, width-based rule. Second, an immediate spike in imports of wider coils demonstrated that the rule was being actively bypassed; for instance, in June 2025 alone, about 215,000 tons of wide coils were imported. Third, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) responded by launching an official anti-circumvention investigation in October 2025. Finally, the investigation's initial findings confirmed the circumvention, leading the MoIT to impose a new provisional tariff of 27.83% on the wider steel coils on April 2, 2026.
This new tariff effectively closes the loophole. It adds about $139 to the cost of a ton of Chinese wide-width HRC (based on a $500/ton price), making it significantly less competitive against steel from Vietnamese producers or other countries. The move is designed to level the playing field for local companies like Hoa Phat, which is currently expanding its own HRC production capacity. It's not happening in a vacuum, either. China has been exporting record amounts of steel, putting downward pressure on prices globally, and Vietnam's action is part of a broader trend of countries using trade remedies to shield their domestic industries from this supply surge.
- HRC (Hot-Rolled Coil): A type of steel produced by rolling it at high temperatures, widely used in construction, manufacturing, and pipes.
- Anti-dumping Tariff: A protectionist tax a government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
- Circumvention: The act of evading trade remedy measures, such as anti-dumping duties, often by making minor modifications to a product.