BY FRANCESCO GUARASCIO
HANOI – In hope of avoiding punishing US tariffs, Vietnam is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory and will tighten controls on sensitive exports to China, according to a person familiar with the matter and a government document seen by Reuters.
The offer, the details of which are reported by Reuters for the first time, came as senior US officials, including the influential White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, raised concerns about Chinese goods being sent to America with “Made in Vietnam” labels that draw lower duties.
Vietnam has for weeks been offering sweeteners that it hoped would persuade the US President Donald Trump’s administration to take a benign view of its huge trade surplus with America. Instead, it was hit with a 46 percent tariff as part of Trump’s “Liberation Day” salvo.
While the tariff has been suspended for 90 days, the two countries agreed to start talks after a Vietnamese deputy prime minister met with the US Trade Representative on Wednesday.
Export-reliant Vietnam is hoping to get the duties reduced to a range of 22 percent to 28 percent, if not lower, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
One of them said that US officials had signalled that range was likely, during a bilateral meeting in March.
Vietnam’s trade ministry and the USTR’s office did not return a request for comment.
In announcing the start of trade talks with the US on Thursday, Vietnam’s government said on its official portal it would crack down on “trade fraud.” It did not provide specifics.
Since Trump’s first term, many multi-national firms have implemented a “China plus one” policy of setting up factories in Vietnam to reduce exposure to Beijing.
The Southeast Asian nation is in a tight spot as it tries to preserve trade with the US, which is its largest export market and a security partner. At the same time, Hanoi does not want to antagonize China, which is a top source of investment as well as a neighbour with which it has clashed over boundaries in the South China Sea.
Vietnam’s Government Office, a body that coordinates between its ministries, held an emergency meeting with government trade experts on April 3, hours after Trump announced the tariffs. The aim was to address Washington’s concerns over alleged intellectual property theft and transhipment abuses, according to a person briefed on the meeting.
At the meeting, trade ministry and customs officials were told to tighten controls and were given two weeks to devise a plan to clamp down on illicit transhipment. The deadline could be extended until late April, the person said, adding that Hanoi wanted to be careful not to provoke China.
Illicit transhipment refers to one country sending goods to a nation facing lower tariffs from a third country, to which the product is re-exported without having value added to it.
Vietnam’s Government Office and the customs department did not respond to a request for comment.
Many of the goods exported by Vietnam to the West have Chinese-made inputs, and Chinese companies have also established factories in the country to serve US customers.
In many instances, Vietnamese workers process the goods, which are then legally shipped to the US under a “Made in Vietnam” label.
Official trade data show Vietnam’s exports to the US in recent years have been fuelled by imports from China, with inflows from Beijing closely matching the value and swings of exports to Washington.
