Vietnam clamps down on fraud on US exports, document shows

Francesco Guarascio - Reuters - 22/04
Vietnam's trade ministry has issued a directive to crack down on illegal transhipment of goods to the United States and other trading partners as it tries to avoid steep U.S. tariffs, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
  • Vietnam trade ministry issued directive on April 15
  • Officials told to strengthen controls on imported goods
  • New procedures on releasing 'Made in Vietnam' certificates
  • China is Vietnam's top source of imports, US is its top market
  • US accused China of using Vietnam as illegal transhipment hub
HANOI, April 22 (Reuters) - Vietnam's trade ministry has issued a directive to crack down on illegal transhipment of goods to the United States and other trading partners as it tries to avoid steep U.S. tariffs, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
The ministry in the directive, which was dated and effective April 15, said trade fraud was likely to increase amid growing tension caused by U.S. tariffs.

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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 transhipment fraud might originate. However, Vietnam's goods imports are nearly 40% from China and Washington has openly accused Beijing of using the Southeast Asian nation as a transhipment hub to dodge U.S. duties.
Vietnam has been slapped by the Trump administration with 46% "reciprocal" tariffs, currently paused until July, which if applied could seriously undermine a growth model t...
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