Attention exporters in Vietnam and those running US shipping routes 👇 The inspection rate for Vietnamese goods exported to the US has skyrocketed, container detentions are increasing, and customs clearance costskeep rising. Many only know that "the US is investigating Vietnam regarding Section 301," but have noidea what is actually being investigated. --- Let's clear one thing up first: The US is not targeting Vietnamese goods; they are targeting Chinese goods hidden inside Vietnamese shipments. Since 2018, the US has imposed Section 301 tariffs on China, covering over $370 billionworth of goods. Tariffs on industrial products increased by 25%, consumer goods by 7.5%,and some new energy and electric vehicle products are as high as 75% to 100%. Vietnam and Thailand themselves do not have these tariffs. Consequently, some have shipped finished Chinese products to Southeast Asia, changed the packaging and shipping marks, obtained certificates of origin, and exported them to the US masquerading as Southeast Asianorigin. The US investigation into Vietnam's Section 301 is specifically designed to plug this loophole. --- How is US Customs investigating this now? They no longer just lookat the certificate of origin; they trace the entire supply chain directly: BOM (Bill of Materials), origin ofraw materials, factory production records, and local value-added ratio—all four are fully audited. Oncea fraudulent origin is confirmed, it triggers a triple blow: container seizure/return + full payment of retroactive Section 301 tariffs + heavy fines. In severe cases, past orders will also be retroactively audited. --- The following practices are now 100% guaranteed to fail ❌ ❌Bare transshipment/container swapping: Finished products arrive at Vietnamese bonded warehouses only to have their packaging changed, with zerosubstantial processing. ❌ Shell company certification: Obtaining certificates of origin from Vietnamese shell companies with no actual production capacity. ❌ Substandard value-added ratio: Simple assembly where the local value-added ratio fails to meet compliance requirements. There is only one compliant path forward: Ship core components from China → Perform deep processing and molding locally in Vietnam → Meetlocal value-added requirements → Export legally to the US. --- Is it true thatChinese goods are being transshipped to the US via Southeast Asia? Yes, it is true, andthe scale is massive. However, it has cooled down significantly over the past two years. Non-compliantbare transshipments have basically been phased out. The inspection rate is too high; once caught, the losses far exceedthe taxes saved. The current mainstream is compliant industrial transfer: Chinese enterprises set up factories in Vietnam, domestic components are supplied, and Vietnam completes the full processing. This is normal global division of labor and completely legal. --- Here are the real numbers; don't get misled by exaggerated online information 👇 🇻🇳 Vietnam's exports to the US: Goods containing Chinese components/capacity account for about 15%-16%, with anannual volume of $22-25 billion. Among these, purely non-compliant bare transshipments havebeen compressed to under 3%. High-risk categories: • Furniture, small appliances, dailyhardware: Chinese origin accounts for 25%-35% • Textile accessories, finished apparel: 12%-20% • Large machinery and heavy industry: Under 5% 🇹🇭 Thailand'sexports to the US: Chinese components/capacity account for about 8%-11%, with an annual volume of $7-9 billion. Thai customs control is stricter, offering less room for bare transshipments; non-compliantbare transshipments account for less than 2%. High-proportion categories: • Air conditioners, auto parts: Chinese components account for 35%-42% • Textile fabrics and accessories: 20%-28% • General daily necessities: 6%-10% This is also whymany companies are now prioritizing Thailand for their operations. --- Key trends for 2026: ① The Vietnam dividend has largely faded; strict inspections have become normalized, and the era of evading taxes through container swapping is completely over. ② Malaysia and Indonesia are becoming new hotspots, but the UShas already initiated synchronized supply chain tracing audits there, and enforcement will only get tighter. ③ There is onlyone bottom line for compliance: the local value-added ratio in Southeast Asia must be ≥ 30% of theFOB value, accompanied by complete production records, bills of materials (BOM), and factory ledgers. ④ No processing, low processing, and shell company certifications are all deemed non-compliant. Once verified, it is notjust a problem for that specific shipment; the enterprise will be blacklisted by the US, severely impacting US-bound exportsin the long run. --- In summary: The so-called strict Section 301 investigations in Vietnam and Thailand have never been targeted at Southeast Asia, but are rather precise efforts by the US to blocktariff evasion loopholes for Chinese goods. If you want to use Southeast Asian routes to the US, compliance isthe only way forward. Do not rely on luck.