Fight against origin fraud to be enhanced

The order came amid a reported flow of foreign-made and counterfeit products labelled as “made-in-Viet Nam”, especially consumer and fashion goods, which was causing a loss to the State budget revenue and damage to consumers as well as negatively affecting domestic export firms.

Fighting origin fraud was essential to protecting brands and the rights of consumers, as well as creating a healthy business environment, the committee said.

Focus would be placed on tightening supervision at border areas and strictly punishing violations related to trading of counterfeit products and products which were made in foreign countries but labelled “made in Viet Nam”.

The US raised tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, effective on Friday, as the trade dispute between the two countries deepened.

Experts warned that the escalating US-China trade war would have significant impacts on the global economy.

As the Vietnamese economy was largely dependent on trade, with exports equivalent to more than 100 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, and the country also running a large trade surplus with the US, experts worried that Chinese goods would flow into Viet Nam and be labelled as “made-in-Viet Nam” to be exported to the US and other countries to avoid paying high tax rates.

This would badly affect domestic production, especially when the US might consider raising tariffs on Vietnamese products.

According to Nguyen Duc Thanh, director of the Viet Nam Institute for Economic and Policy Research, in the US-China trade war, Chinese producers might shift their products which were subject to high tax rate when directly exported to the US to other countries, especially ASEAN member countries. This would badly affect made-in-Viet Nam products, Thanh said.