Speaking to reporters of Industry and Trade Newspaper on the morning of April 8, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy - Director, Head of Vietnam Trade Commission in Sweden, concurrently in charge of Northern European market, said that EU is currently wary of possibility that Chinese goods, which were previously exported to the US, may find their way into European market due to impact of retaliatory tariffs between the two major economies. Currently, EU is controlling a number of items such as: Steel, electronics, solar panels, wind turbines from China. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy: “EU officials said that the side effects of high tariffs from the US are overproduction and that items that were once exported to the US are now likely to be redirected to Europe. A senior EU official commented: "There may be a phenomenon of trade diversion, when some countries that can no longer export to the US will look for alternative markets. EU will be ready to protect its market".
In fact, EU faced a similar situation in the steel sector in 2017, when the US closed its market to Chinese steel, causing goods to flood into EU. At that time, EU applied safeguard measures approved by WTO, helping to limit import of certain products when there was a sudden surge in the volume of goods on the market.
In context of EU tightening supervision to prevent the import of goods, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy noted that Vietnamese export enterprises exporting similar products also need to pay special attention to risk of Chinese goods "hiding their origin" through Vietnam to re-export to EU to take advantage of tax incentives from EVFTA. This risk is more evident than ever.
"If this phenomenon occurs, reputation of "Made in Vietnam" goods will be seriously affected and EU may apply measures to increase inspection, or even tighten preferential conditions or impose punitive taxes for goods from Vietnam” – Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy emphasized.
To minimize risks, Ms. Thuy said that experts recommend that Vietnamese enterprises need to strictly control supply chain, ensure clear origin and avoid being implicated in commercial fraud. In addition, proactively clarify origin records, prepare well-documented evidence when being inspected. Closely monitor trade policy movements from the EU to promptly adjust export strategies. In particular, it is necessary to improve competitiveness, focus on product quality and real added value to maintain European market.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn