Korea is not objective when investigating Vietnamese plywood, many businesses are at risk of being unfairly taxed

Mr. Trinh Xuan Duong – Deputy Head of the Vietnam Plywood Association (under the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association) said: Korea has re-investigated the anti-dumping tax on exported plywood and plywood products. Made in Vietnam exporting to the Korean market in the period of 2020 – 2023. The time when Korean management agencies came to inspect businesses ended in November 2023.

Currently, the Korean management agency is about to issue final decisions on anti-dumping tax rates for businesses participating in the investigation and businesses not under investigation. During this period, the Vietnam Plywood Association received a lot of information that there would be a huge difference in tax rates ranging from 4.2 – 13.04%.

KOREA ACCOUNTS FOR 29% OF VIETNAM’S PLYWOOD EXPORTS

Plywood is considered the first type of industrial wood invented in the world and is still commonly used in furniture production today. Plywood (including Plywood, plywood, plywood) is a sheet of material made from many layers of natural wood sliced ​​about 1 mm thin. These layers of wood are arranged perpendicularly in the direction of the wood grain of each layer, then pressed together under high temperature and pressure with the participation of adhesives.

According to the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association, the export value of plywood products in 2023 is 889 million USD, accounting for 6.7% of the total export turnover of Vietnam’s wood industry. Last year’s plywood exports increased by 1.2% in volume but decreased by 14.2% in value compared to 2022.

Plywood export market Vietnam’s plywood and composite wood products are exported to 81 countries and territories around the world in 2023. However, Korea, Japan, the United States and Malaysia are 4 markets. Vietnam’s main plywood exports in 2023, accounting for 77.1% in volume and 77.4% in value.

Among them, Korea is the largest market, accounting for 29% in volume and 22.7% in value of Vietnam’s total plywood export turnover. Plywood accounts for 25.3% of Vietnam’s total export turnover of wood and wood products to Korea. This item ranks second in export value among our country’s wood and wood products to the Korean market.

In the US market, Vietnam exported 571.63 thousand m3 of plywood, reaching 282.23 million USD, down 7.9% in volume and 22.1% in value compared to 2022, accounting for 20.6%. in quantity and 31.8% in value.

For the Malaysian market, the export volume of plywood reached 475.6 thousand m3, the value reached 125 million USD, an increase of 21.5% in volume and 4.6% in value, accounting for 17.1% in volume and 14.5%. 1% in value. This is the only increasing export market for plywood products.

The amount of plywood exports to Japan reached 287.26 thousand m3, reaching 79.45 million USD, down 3.8% in volume and 14% in value, accounting for 10.4% in volume and 8.9% in price. treat.

KOREA’S INVESTIGATION IS NOT OBJECTIVE

Korea is the largest market for Vietnamese plywood exports, so the Korean management agency’s investigation and upcoming anti-dumping tax rulings on this product will have a huge impact on the country. with wood industry enterprises.

Mr. Trinh Xuan Duong said that the investigation and tax imposition from the Korean side were not objective. Vietnam has about 152 businesses exporting plywood and plywood products to Korea, but the Korean agency only went to Vietnam to investigate 6 businesses, one of which has stopped operating. dynamic.

“The number of enterprises being (or being) investigated only accounts for a very small number of the total number of Vietnamese enterprises exporting this product to the Korean market. The sales volume of these enterprises exported to the Korean market each year accounts for no more than 20% of the total export turnover of this product to the Korean market,” Mr. Duong emphasized.

According to the Vietnam Plywood Association, Korea is a potential market for plywood products. Currently, there are businesses that do not or have very little export output to the Korean market, or have never even exported to Korea. These businesses are of course not within the scope of investigation, but in the future, when they want to export to this market, being subject to general taxes will be a disadvantage and unfair to those businesses in the long term.

When Korea applies anti-dumping tax, many businesses in the plywood industry will not be able to compete, will have to stop operating, and workers will lose their jobs. The entire supply chain of afforestation and forest product processing will be interrupted, and raw material suppliers will also have to stop operations. From there, the price of planted forest wood will decrease, and people will not want to plant new forests.

Thus, the state’s goals in the coming time related to green certification and limiting environmental pollution will be directly affected. Besides, Korean businesses that are importing plywood from Vietnam and the entire system associated with their business will also face huge problems.

Accompanying businesses in exporting Vietnamese plywood products, the Vietnam Plywood Association requests the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association and the Trade Defense Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) to make recommendations to management agencies. of the Korean Government to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese plywood and plywood products to be exported to this market in the best way.

Along with that, we recommend that the Trade Defense Department discuss to find a solution and propose that the Korean management agency keep the anti-dumping tax rate the same as the previous investigation (10.54%). This will create conditions for Vietnamese businesses to maintain the market and stabilize production in the context of the current global economic decline.