Vietnam grapples with trade probes as protectionism increases

India is investigating steel dumping allegations made against Vietnam and other countries by domestic producers.

Vietnam will act to stop the illegal circumvention by steel exporters and work with the U.S. on tackling such fraud.

The U.S. has slapped duties of up to 456 percent on some steel products imported from Vietnam which it alleges are produced overseas.

The Van Loi Steel Mill, deserted for eight years, has auctioned off for just 10 percent of its investment value.

Arrest warrants have been issued against five former executives of two Vietnamese steel companies.

With electricity bills a significant part of their production costs, Vietnamese manufacturers are set to increase their selling prices.

Taiwan’s Tung Ho Steel has invested a total of VND4.22 trillion ($183 million) in a plant in southern Vietnam as it seeks to take on local players.

Despite robust sales, the country’s leading steel maker, Hoa Sen Group, has reported its lowest quarterly net profit in the last four years.

The Vietnam Steel Association wants the ban on metal scrap waived so that its members can continue importing it as feedstock.

China's trade surplus with the United States widened to a record monthly high of $28.97 billion in June.

Steel industry has seen a stable average growth of 15 percent, and supply is already higher than market demand.

However, experts warn that the US could mete out the same treatment to Vietnam at some point.

Imports from China have fallen as local firms are able to produce more advanced products, senior industry official says.