Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci… Tran Le Chi loves fashion. However, the US customs offensive causes unrest in its wardrobe. This consists of counterfeits with the ‘Made in Vietnam’ label, which Washington has targeted.
The 53-year-old, who sells illegal lottery rose in the capital Hanoi, explains: “The clothing helps me create a trendy look.” She openly admits: “What does it do, whether it is fake or not?” Chi has no problem to admit that she is wearing counterfeits that you never cost more than a million dong (around 30 euros) per piece. “The real products are not for people like us,” she says.
Vietnam has developed into one of the largest production facilities for clothing and shoes worldwide. The country attracts international brands with its numerous and cheap workers.
The downside of the medal: The communist state is also a master of product piracy. This is its most important announcement: inside, the USA, not escaped who take care of the influx of counterfeits. This topic is the focus of the current discussions between Hanoi and Washington. As part of its protectionist offensive, the United States threatens to improve its trade balance with an additional inch of 46 percent on imported products from Vietnam.
Raids against counterfeits
“I didn’t cheat anyone,” Hoa defended himself. It runs a shop in the old town of Hanoi and sells fake Nike, Lacoste and North Face products. These are made in China, but are stamped with “Made in Vietnam” to appear authentic. Your customers: Buy your actions in full on the inside, she assures under a pseudonym.
The Communist government then launched a raid that should last until mid -August. In Hanoi (North) and Ho Chi Minh City (South), sales stands were closed. One of the goals of the raid is the Saigon Square shopping center in the tourist center of Ho-Chi-Minh-Stadt. The US authorities identified it as one of the most important physical markets for product piracy worldwide.
A report by the White House (USTR) trade officer for 2024 found that “the low punishments had little deterrent effects and that falsifications were still” widespread “. In the first five months of the year, the authorities confiscated about a thousand fake Rolex watches in this shopping center, which is located directly opposite the modern “Saigon Center”. The “Saigon Center” is an American shopping center with shops, hotel, restaurants and offices and represents the counterpart, so to speak.
Vietnam confiscated more than 7,000 fake products with a total value of eight million US dollars (7.36 million euros) from January to May, an official from the national market supervisory authority said in mid-June. Around 53 cases were handed over to the police for examination, he said.
200,000 socks for less than 20 cents
In Hanoi, the law enforcement officers discovered more than 25,000 fake loudspeakers of the British brand Marshall, smartwatches and pseudo-Japanese vacuum cleaners. A man who sold more than 200,000 socks with adidas, nike and uniqlo logos for less than 20 cents per couple was arrested at the end of May. In another case, the police arrested a man who is accused of buying six tons of confectionery in China and re -packed them. He deceived that they came from Japan or South Korea by changing the expiry date.
Vietnam has promised to strengthen control over the origin of the goods sold abroad. Washington accuses Hanoi of negligence in the case of fraud in connection with um loads, which would make the import of Chinese products easier in the United States, subject to stricter customs regulations.
Combating product piracy “plays a role in Vietnam’s strategy to appease the USA,” says Nguyen Khac Giang, a Vietnamese researcher based in Singapore. In Hanoi, the dealer Hoa had to close her shop two weeks ago for feared police raids.
“I sold this type of clothing for ten years and I had no problems,” she says. “Now you are targeting us and it is difficult to imagine how to continue.”
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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