Importers of garments from Vietnam should “beware”

Importers of garments from Vietnam should “beware”

Importers of garments from Vietnam should “beware”

“Importer, Beware.”
   That’s the bottom line advice being given importers of garments in a recent memo from the law firm Tompkins and Davidson, which discusses plans by the U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration section to monitor imports of Vietnam textiles and apparel.
   Under a deal worked out in Congress on the eve of approving Vietnam's permanent normal trade relations status, the Bush Administration said it might self-initiate dumping investigations against such products.
   That sparked anger from some garment importers. Normally such complaints must be initiated by makers of “like” products harmed by imports, and few garments are made in the U.S. anymore.
   The law firm notes that monitoring of garment imports began Jan. 11 when Vietnam joined the WTO “with emphasis on five product categories ‘of special sensitivity’– trousers, shirts, underwear, swimwear and sweaters”.
   It said Commerce plans to evaluation the trade twice a year — July and January, with interim reviews occurring “only if warranted by unforeseen developments.”
   Commerce will gather volume, value and average unit value data for selected products. In addition to analyzing import data, the department will consider domestic industry information including production, employment and other indicators of industry health.
   The law firm notes that “any actions will ostensibly comply with requirements concerning measurement of import impacts on ‘like’ U.S. products.”
   It noted that “development of appropriate production templates and proxy countries was a highly contested issue” in public comments submitted to the ITA.    The law firm said the ITA has indicated that “these will be determined on an as-needed basis, as merited by the Department’s analysis of the monitored imports, and their impact on the domestic industry, and at later dates.”
   “With respect to another disputed issue, the ‘critical circumstances’ retroactivity issue, the ITA claims that any application by it of critical circumstances in the context of a self-initiated dumping investigation will be fully consistent with U.S. law, and with the applicable WTO rules,” the law firm reported.
   “In such a case, suspension of liquidation would apply to unliquidated entries of merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the later of: 1) 90 days before the date on which suspension of liquidation is first ordered; or 2) the date on which notice of the initiation of the investigation is published in the Federal Register.”
   The ITA is allowing additional time, through January 31, during which comments on the program, including rebuttals to the initial set of public comments, may be presented. Comments can be viewed at: https://ia.ita.doc.gov .