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Recently affected by the Sino-US trade war, many enterprises, foreign trade practitioners and freight forwarders are consulting whether they can clear customs through third-country re-export trade to avoid the risk of tariff increase.

The products subject to tariffs imposed by Sino-US trade frictions are goods originating in China or the United States. I have previously pushed articles to analyze whether goods sent to China through third countries can evade some tax sanctions.

Today, let's analyze: What kind of situation will Chinese goods be exported from a third country (Vietnam) to the United States?!

As the United States announced additional tariffs on Chinese goods, some Chinese exporters began to do their best to avoid the impact of the US tariffs. For example, turning to Vietnam is one of the options.

However, the situation may now change.

A few days ago, Vietnam Customs is vigorously guiding the customs department to strengthen the inspection and certification of the certificate of origin of goods, to avoid foreign goods wearing the "Made in Vietnam" label through to the European, American and Japanese markets, mainly for China's illegal export products.

A statement issued by Vietnam Customs on June 9 stated that the department has discovered dozens of cases during the ongoing Sino-US trade dispute.Chinese products through "origin fraud" and "illegal transshipment" activitiesto avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese products.

The Vietnamese government said that the authorities are taking more measures to prevent Chinese companies from using illegal "made in Vietnam" labels to ensure their credibility in overseas markets. After the United States imposed high tariffs on Chinese goods, some Chinese companies frequently attempted to circumvent the US tariffs by modifying the origin. The Vietnamese side said that this kind of behavior will damage the Vietnamese manufacturing brand, and the authorities will start to control the phenomenon.

(Screenshot of Vietnamese Government Portal)

Vietnam's customs department said in a statement on Sunday (June 9),Textiles, fisheries, agricultural products, ceramic tiles, honey, iron, steel and plywood are the products that are most often counterfeited as "made in Vietnam" by China and then exported to third countries.

The Vietnamese government portal said authorities had cracked "dozens of cases". The Customs Department has ordered its offices to be more active in checking certificates of origin of products in order to put an end to similar practices.

Since the beginning of this year, China's exports to the United States have fallen sharply, while Vietnam's exports to the United States have surged. While there is evidence that some of these increases are due to supply chain adjustments, analysts question how much of the recent increase is legitimate.

The fraud uncovered by the Vietnamese government includesThe packaging of Chinese goods is changed to "made in Vietnam", and then the certificate of origin is obtained.. The Vietnamese government cited an example: U.S. customs officials discovered that Chinese plywood was being shipped to the United States through a Vietnamese company. In response to a similar situation, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh warned in a speech to the National Assembly last week that the ruse would have serious consequences if it went unchecked.

"It will destroy Vietnamese brands and products, it will also affect consumers, and may even cause tariffs from other countries. If this happens, our economy will suffer," Pham Binh Minh was quoted as saying on the Vietnamese government website.

Just last month, the U.S. Treasury Department put Vietnam on the watch list of "currency manipulators". In other words, Vietnam may have been strictly scrutinized by the United States.

Vietnam will be the biggest winner in the Sino-US trade war.

The trade war between China and the United States is getting worse, and the United States is preparing to impose tariffs on a new $300 billion of Chinese goods at a tentative rate of 25%, which has caused quite extensive supply chain turmoil for Chinese companies.

(Vietnam is one of the fastest growing sources of imports for the United States.)

Foreign media reported that in the first quarter of this year, Vietnam was one of the countries with rapid growth in US imports from Asia. If this rate is maintained, Vietnam may surpass the United Kingdom and become a larger supplier to the United States.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Vietnam's exports to the United States increased by 40.2 in the first quarter. If Vietnam's exports to the United States continue to grow at this rate this year, it may surpass Italy, France, the United Kingdom and India to become one of the largest sources of imports to the United States.

The United States is currently Vietnam's largest export market. The industry believes that Vietnam's efforts to crack down on China's re-export products are a new measure taken by the authorities to protect Vietnam's export market to the United States.