South Africa's International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) has issued a notice applying a provisional safeguard measure on imported corrosion-resistant steel coil products into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), with Vietnam excluded from the measure as it is a developing country with an import market share of less than 3%, the Government News quoted the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam as reporting on July 9.

The product under investigation is corrosion-resistant steel coil, classified under the Republic of South Africa's import tariff codes 7210.61.20, 7210.61.30, 7225.92.25, and 7225.92.35.

The investigation was initiated on January 17, 2025 (the case had previously been initiated on December 27, 2024, but was subsequently terminated and re-initiated on the same day). The period of investigation is from May 2021 to April 2024.

Regarding exclusion from the safeguard measure, under WTO regulations, developing countries with an import market share of less than 3% may be excluded, provided that the total imports from these countries collectively do not exceed 9%. Vietnam is on the list of excluded countries as it meets the criterion of having an import share of less than 3% into the Republic of South Africa.

According to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, this preliminary result helps support Vietnamese businesses in continuing to export corrosion-resistant steel products to the SACU bloc in the near future. Businesses and associations should continue to monitor the developments of the case until a final conclusion is reached.

Source: VnEconomy