Reuters: Vietnam Plans to Crack Down on Illegal Transshipment Trade

According to a Vietnamese government document obtained by Reuters, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued an instruction on April 15, demanding a strict crackdown on illegal transshipment of goods to trade partners such as the United States, in order to avoid being subject to high additional tariffs imposed by the U.S.

According to the document from the Ministry of Industry and Trade reviewed by Reuters, Hanoi is concerned that under the tension caused by U.S. tariffs, there may be an increase in trade fraud involving illegal transshipment of goods through Vietnam. "If such fraud is not prevented, it will become even more difficult to avoid additional tariffs imposed by other countries."

The document from the Ministry of Industry and Trade did not "name" the source country of the trade fraud.

At present, the Vietnamese government is preparing for tariff negotiations with the Trump administration. A message posted on its official website on April 22 stated that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had instructed officials from various ministries to crack down on issues of concern to the U.S., including trade fraud.

The document from the Ministry of Industry and Trade also required officials to strengthen supervision and inspection of imported goods to determine their origin, "especially imported raw materials used for production and export."

The document also pointed out that new stricter procedures would be implemented to inspect factories and supervise the issuance of the "Made in Vietnam" labels, "especially for enterprises where applications for origin certificates have suddenly increased." The document also instructed officials to "introduce specific measures to prevent illegal transshipment when necessary."

In recent times, Vietnam has been accused of illegal transshipment of goods, where goods from other countries briefly stay in Vietnam without generating significant added value, only to have their origin certificates changed to "Made in Vietnam," and then shipped to the U.S. to avoid higher tariffs.

Source: DW

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830111153010700/

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