Vietnam cracks down on fraud on US exports
HANOI—Vietnam’s trade ministry has ordered a crackdown on illegal transshipment of goods to the United States and other trading partners as it tries to avoid steep US tariffs, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
The ministry said trade fraud was likely to increase amid growing tension caused by US tariffs.
That in turn would make it “more complicated to avoid sanctions that countries will apply to imported goods” if fraud is not prevented, it said.
The directive did not specifically name any countries where transshipment fraud might originate. However, Vietnam’s goods imports are nearly 40 percent from China and Washington has openly accused Beijing of using the Southeast Asian nation for transshipment to dodge duties.
Vietnam has been slapped by the Trump administration with 46 percent “reciprocal” tariffs, currently paused until July, which if applied could seriously undermine exports to the United States, its top market, and large investments in the country by foreign manufacturers.
Tariff talks
Officials at the trade ministry, customs and other agencies have been told to strengthen supervision and inspection of imported goods to establish their origin, “especially imported raw materials used for production and export.”
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told officials to combat trade fraud, counterfeiting and other issues of concern for the United States as Hanoi prepared for tariff talks with Washington, the government said on its portal on Tuesday.
The trade ministry directive was issued the day China’s President Xi Jinping concluded a trip to Vietnam during which several agreements were signed, including one on strengthening cooperation between agencies in charge of issuing certificates on the origin of goods.
Earlier this week, Beijing warned countries against striking trade deals with the United States at its expense.
Under allegations of illegal transshipment, goods from China stop in Vietnam and their certificate of origin altered despite no or insufficient value being added in the country. These are then shipped to the United States where they can enjoy lower tariffs than if they were labeled as Chinese products.
