Vietnam’s trade ministry has issued a directive to crack down on illegal transshipment of goods to the United States and other trading partners as it tries to avoid steep US tariffs.
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In the directive seen by Reuters, which was dated and effective April 15, 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 per cent from China and Washington has openly accused Chinese companies of using the Southeast Asian nation as a transshipment hub to dodge US duties.
Vietnam has been slapped by the Trump administration with a 46 per cent “reciprocal” tariff, currently paused until July, which if applied could seriously undermine a growth model that relies on exports to the US, its top market, and large investments in the country by foreign manufacturers.
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