Chinese exporters transport goods through neighboring countries to mask their origin and dodge prices up to 145% imposed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, according to merchants, logistics agents and customs officials.
The advertisements for the “washing of the place of origin” began to appear on popular Chinese social media sites, according to Financial time. The posts promise to reduce prices by sending goods to another Asian country from which they will again leave a new certificate of origin, allowing them to clean US customs at the lower rights rate.
The push of these offers shows how worried exporters are to lose the American market. “The price is too high,” said Sarah or, who sells for Baitai lighting in Zhongshan, Guangdong. “We can sell goods to neighboring countries, then neighboring countries sell them to the United States, and that will reduce.”
Under the American trade rules, a shipment must undergo a “substantial transformation” – a treatment which adds real value – before being able to legally claim a new national origin. However, an article on the application of Lifestyle Xiaohongshu has urged shipments this week to “pass through Malaysia to” transform “into Southeast Asian products”.
Another highlighted the American prices on the Chinese wooden parquet and dishes, adding: “wash the origin in Malaysia for the release of smooth customs”.
Asia officials say that more companies are around the prices
The Customs Service of South Korea last month said it had concluded 29.5 billion won (around $ 21 million) of imports with false labels of origin in the first quarter, mainly Chinese products for the United States. “We note a strong increase in recent cases where our country is used as a bypass,” said the agency, noting that many boxes have been reassigned “made in Korea”.
The Vietnam Industry and Trade Ministry have urged local manufacturers and export groups to tighten controls on the origins of raw materials and stop the false certificates. The Foreign Trade Department in Thailand has deployed additional inspections in April intended for shipments by the United States.
Two forwarders told the Financial Times that they could move containers to Port Klang, Malaysia, unload them, re -send the boxes and recharge them with Malaysian documents. They are counting on partner plants in Malaysia which help secure new certificates. “The United States must know,” said an agent. “It cannot go too crazy, so we control the amount.” The other added: “Malaysian customs are not very strict.”
Some exporters mix expensive items with cheaper articles in a single deposit
A consultant who advises exporters said that original washing is one of the two main tactics now used to pile up Trump's prices. The second consists in mixing expensive items with cheaper goods in a single deposit, then declaring the average price so that the bill is lower.
Work works also disrupt American retailers. A senior executive from one of the ten largest independent sellers in Amazon said they had already seen expeditions arriving with modified original papers, risking confiscation. The executive refuses suppliers' offers to manage American import documents and pay rights according to factory costs, and not the retail value. “You put a lot of confidence in a Chinese supplier,” said the executive.
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