Todd Bishop
The Vietnamese government stated that Chinese exporters have posted a fake “Made in Vietnam” label in order to evade US sanctions.
According to Bloomberg, Vietnam has found dozens of counterfeit “Made in Vietnam” products with false certificates of origin to avoid the US government’s tariffs on Chinese agricultural products, textiles and steel.
Chinese plywood bypasses Vietnam as a Vietnamese exporter to the United States
The Vietnamese government cited an example. US customs officials informed that Chinese splints were transshipped to the United States via Vietnam. The report described this as the first time that the Asian government has disclosed such misconduct.
The Vietnamese government stated that it is necessary to increase the penalties for trade fraud. Fred Burk, a partner at Baker & McKenzie, a Vietnamese law firm, described this as a “cat and mouse game” and thought that “as long as someone is trying to save the 25% tariff, it is difficult to crack down on counterfeit labels.”
The government is worried that Chinese businessmen are not doing illegal activities in Vietnam.
Do Van Sinh, a permanent member of the Economic Council of the National Assembly of Vietnam, said in a statement that the country is very concerned that if these counterfeit goods flow into the United States, Vietnam will be punished.
Although Southeast Asian countries benefited from trade wars and manufacturers moved to these countries to promote product exports, some analysts questioned how much water the figures contain.
Rahul Kapoor, senior analyst at Bloomberg in Singapore, pointed out that China’s shipments to Southeast Asia are relatively small. “There will be loopholes to evade taxes, but we don’t think it’s a common phenomenon.”
