Bloomberg: U.S. Conducts Surprise Inspections of Chinese-Related Factories in Vietnam, Possibility of Tariff Expansion

U.S. customs officials recently conducted surprise inspections of some Chinese-related factories in Vietnam. This action has raised concerns that the U.S. government may soon find new reasons to expand tariffs on Vietnamese goods.

According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, June 28, insiders revealed that U.S. inspectors focused on examining corporate documents, the origin of raw materials, and production processes. They aimed to assess how much added value these products gained in Vietnam before being exported to the U.S., while also investigating potential software intellectual property infringements.

However, sources claim that there is currently no evidence proving that Chinese goods are being illegally transshipped to the U.S. via Vietnam.

Recently, the U.S. has been pressuring Vietnam to address issues such as intellectual property protection, overcapacity, and trade fraud. Currently, the two countries have been negotiating the final version of a trade framework agreement for several months.

However, it is reported that the latest round of negotiations has been tense and difficult, with both sides still having serious disagreements over transshipment and other non-tariff barriers.

Last week, Vietnam, along with approximately 60 other economies, was announced by the U.S. to face new tariffs. The U.S. stated that these countries had not taken sufficient measures to prevent 'forced labor' issues in the supply chain.

On June 25, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the U.S. 'did not sufficiently reflect Vietnam's efforts in preventing, reducing, and eliminating forced labor,' including measures to ban the import of goods produced through forced labor.

Additionally, Vietnam is also one of the countries being investigated by the U.S. regarding the 'overcapacity' issue. Vietnam is the only country currently facing three 'Section 301' investigations by the U.S.

In recent years, Vietnam has become a manufacturing base for many U.S. companies. Some multinational corporations have driven supply chain diversification, moving part of their production to Vietnam. This has led to a continuous expansion of Vietnam's trade surplus with the U.S. According to the latest U.S. data released for May, Vietnam's monthly trade deficit with the U.S. has become one of the largest sources of trade deficits for the U.S. that month.