The Vietnamese and US governments are stepping up efforts to deal with the issue of illegal transshipment, a growing concern in US-Vietnam trade.

The government of Vietnam is making great efforts to coordinate internally as well as to identify ways to cooperate with the US Government to address this issue, the US Embassy in Hanoi said in a statement.   

Trade between Vietnam and the US has grown remarkably over the past few years, with the former sustaining a large trade surplus with the latter. The US, currently Vietnam’s largest export market, has imposed a 456% tariff on Vietnamese steel products with substrates from South Korea and Taiwan.   

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Administrator Glick and General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) Director-General Nguyen Van Can on Friday held discussions in Hanoi on US-Vietnam cooperation on trade facilitation.

USAID Deputy Administrator Glick and General Department of Vietnam Customs Director-General Nguyen Van Can hold discussions on trade facilitation on Nov. 1 in Hanoi. Photo: USAID

They made a visit to Air Cargo Terminal of Noi Bai Airport to observe GDVC interdiction efforts on illegal transshipment. The GDVC gave Glick an overview of their control operations and inspection of goods suspected of origin-related fraud.

Recognizing the negative impact of illegal transshipment, and under the instructions of Ministry of Finance, the GDVC has requested all customs departments, including air cargo, to enhance their import-export supervision, to avoid trade remedies from other partners and protect foreign investment in Vietnam.

Through the five-year Trade Facilitation Program, launched in early July, USAID is supporting the Vietnamese government to adopt and implement a risk management approach to customs and specialized inspection agencies, which will strengthen the implementation of the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement of which both Vietnam and the United States are members.

Over the course of the project, the USAID Trade Facilitation Program is collaborating with the GDVC, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to address origin fraud, and identify illegal transshipment and circumvention of trade remedies.

The first workshop is planned for mid-November and will focus on exchanging experiences and analyzing relevant regulations and procedures in both the US and Vietnam.

Bonnie Glick is traveling to Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Indonesia from October 29 to November 12, 2019. In Vietnam, Glick has met with government representatives, non-governmental organization representatives, and private sector partners.