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Chinese exporters intensify efforts to avoid the prices imposed by US President Donald Trump by sending their goods via third countries to hide their real origin.
Chinese social media platforms are flooded with advertisements offering a “washing of the place of origin”, while an influx of goods from China has taken an alarm in neighboring countries suspicious of staging business posts in fact intended in the United States.
The growing use of tactics highlights the fears of exporters that new prices of up to 145% imposed by Trump on Chinese products will deprive them of access to one of their most important markets.
“The price is too high,” said Sarah or a seller of Baitai Lighting, an exporter based in the Chinese city south of Zhongshan. “”[But] We can sell goods to neighboring countries, then neighboring countries sell them to the United States, and this will reduce. »»
US trade laws require goods to undergo “substantial transformation” in a country, including generally treatment or manufacturing which adds significant value, to be eligible for tariff purposes.
But advertisements on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu propose to help exporters send goods to countries such as Malaysia, where they will be issued with a new certificate of origin, then sent to the United States.
“The United States has imposed prices on Chinese products?” Transit through Malaysia to “transform” into Southeast Asian products! ” said an announcement published this week on Xiaohongshu by an account under the name of “Ruby – Transhipment in the third party campaign”.
“The United States has set limits on the Chinese wooden parquet and dishes?” Wash the origin “in Malaysia for the release of customs gently!” He added. A person contacted via the details provided in the announcement refused to comment more.
The South Korean Customer Agency said last month that it had found foreign products worth $ 29.5 billion ($ 21 million) with falsified countries in this year, most of which coming from China and almost all intended for the United States.
“We are seeing a strong increase in recent cases where our country is used as a bypass for products in order to avoid different prices and restrictions due to trade policy changes in the United States government,” the agency said in a statement. “We have found many cases where the origins of Chinese products were falsified as Korean.”
The Vietnam and Vietnam Trade Ministry called on local commercial associations, exporters and manufacturers last month to strengthen checks from the origins of raw materials and entrance goods and to prevent the issuance of counterfeit certificates.
The Foreign Trade Service in Thailand also unveiled measures last month to tighten the original controls of products for the United States to avoid pricing escape.
The Baitai said that, like many Chinese manufacturers, the company has sent goods like “free on board”, under which buyers took responsibility for the products once they have left their departure port, reducing the legal risk for the exporter.
“Customers only have to find ports in Guangzhou or Shenzhen, and as long as [the goods] Go ahead, we have finished our mission. . .[after that]It is not our business, ”she said.
The sellers of two logistics companies declared that they could send goods to Port Klang to Malaysia, from where they would move items in local containers and modify their labels and their packaging. Companies had links with Malaysia factories that could help deliver original certificates, said the sellers, who refused to be appointed.
“The United States has to know,” said one of them. “It cannot go too crazy so we control the amount [of orders we take]. “”
“They [Malaysian customs] are not very strict, ”said the other seller.
The ministries of foreigners and trade in China, and the Malaysian government, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
A consultant who advises companies on cross -border trade said that washing of origin was one of the two main methods used to avoid new Trump samples. The other mixed high cost items with cheaper goods, so that exporters can wrongly claim a global cost of lower expeditions, said the consultant.
The owner of a manufacturer of consumer goods based in the southern city of Dongguan, in the south of Dongguan, said that two associations in national industry had introduced him to the intermediaries which offered bypass “gray areas”.
“Basically, I only send it to a Chinese port and they take it from there,” said the owner, adding that the intermediaries had proposed to organize the bypass for only RMB5 ($ 0.70) per kilogram shipped.
“These agencies have said that small and medium-sized enterprises as we can withstand the price that the price is better hitting because there are always gray areas,” she said. “I hope it’s true. The United States is a large market – I don’t want to lose it. ”
The proliferation of efforts to avoid prices has aroused concerns between American business partners. A senior manager in the top 10 of the independent seller on Amazon said that he had observed cases where the origins of the expeditions had been modified, risking confiscation by the American customs authorities.
The executive said they were reluctant to accept the assistance offers from their Chinese suppliers, as to make them act as “file importer” in the United States and pay prices depending on the cost of manufacturing rather than the higher cost of purchase of the retailer.
The executive said they feared that a supplier will point out false value. “You put a lot of confidence in a Chinese supplier,” they said.
