HÀ NỘI — The Trade Remedies Authority of Việt Nam has urged manufacturers and exporters to increase origin transparency to cope with the European Union’s trade defence investigations, which are rising amid an increase in global trade tensions.

The EU is ramping up anti-circumvention investigations and expanding trade defence measures across a number of sectors including agriculture, chemicals and processed industrial goods, targeting attempts by exporters to sidestep existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

These circumvention tactics often involve shifting production to third countries or making slight modifications to products to avoid tariffs.

Circumvention investigations accounted for around 9 per cent of all new EU trade defence investigations between 2015 and 2024. Anti-dumping duties are the most commonly enforced instrument. When the US introduced stricter trade measures against Chinese goods in 2018, the EU also increased trade defence measures to prevent the duping of Chinese goods. In 20023 alone, the EU initiated a record of 13 circumvention investigations.

The EU is expected to continue intensifying its efforts, the Trade Remedies Authority of Việt Nam said, adding that the bloc will focus on monitoring import data and investigating suspected cases more aggressively to ensure existing measures remain affective and are not undermined by unfair practices.

As the EU is one of Việt Nam’s key export markets, coming after only the US and China, the authority urged exporters to strengthen compliance with rules of origin and increase transparency in sourcing practices and retain thorough export documentation to avoid legal risks.

Việt Nam faced 14 new trade defence investigations initiated by nine countries in the first half of this year. The US remains the most active with six cases.

Việt Nam’s exports to the EU totalled $51.66 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase by 18.5 per cent. Exports reached $27.3 billion in the first half of this year, up 10 per cent over the same period last year. — VNS