Since the United States adopted its reciprocal tariff policy in 2025, goods merely passing through Vietnam on their way to the US are scrutinised at an entirely new level. The US tariff orders set a separate, much higher rate for goods treated as transshipped to evade duties, and US customs can trace origin questions back to production records inside Vietnam. Logistics providers and exporters must therefore draw a bright line between lawful transshipment and unlawful transloading when designing a route.
The two most confused concepts: transshipment and evasive transloading
Lawful transshipment is a pure transport activity: goods enter a Vietnamese port or airport area from abroad and continue to a third country under the transshipment and transit regime recognised by Law on Customs 54/2014/QH13 and transport treaties. In this model the goods are not released for consumption in Vietnam, their origin does not change, and the carrier is responsible only for the journey, seals and transport documents.
Evasive transloading is the opposite: goods from a highly taxed country enter Vietnam, undergo negligible operations or merely a paperwork change, then leave for the US dressed as Vietnamese origin. That conduct is prohibited as circumvention of trade defence measures under Law on Foreign Trade Management 05/2017/QH14, and it is the prime target of US tariff policy: goods found to be evasive face not only the higher transshipment rate but also back-duty collection and penalties on the US side.
Origin requirements where a Vietnam leg exists
For exports to the US claiming Vietnamese origin, the core test is substantial transformation in Vietnam under the non-preferential origin rules the US applies, shown by a change in the goods’ nature, name and use after a genuine production process. Simple operations such as repacking, labelling, sorting or minimal assembly create no new origin. The company must prove the process with production records, not with a customs declaration alone.
Vietnam polices the other direction as well: customs and origin certification bodies have stepped up checks on shipments at risk of origin fraud, especially in product groups facing high US trade defence duties. A shipment Vietnam concludes has a falsified origin can draw administrative fines, revocation of the origin certificate and damage to the company’s compliance standing for later shipments.
The document set to prepare before the goods sail
A defensive file has three layers. The first is transport and customs documents showing the true journey and transshipment nature where goods only pass through. The second, for goods made in Vietnam, is a complete production file: material norms, input purchase documents, production orders, factory payroll and energy records, and the manufacturer’s origin declaration worksheet. The third is a ready-made origin explanation pack for the event US customs issues a query or opens an origin verification, because response deadlines in these cases are usually far shorter than the time a company needs to reassemble scattered records.
Pure logistics providers are not outside the risk either: carriers and customs brokers should sanity-check route plausibility, refuse shipments with abnormal signs such as high-value goods routed through multiple legs with no commercial reason, and retain documents for the statutory archive period. When an evasion case breaks, investigators always work through the whole service chain that moved the goods.
Frequently Asked Questions
What reciprocal-tariff risks face goods transshipped via Vietnam to the US?
The central risk is a US finding that the shipment was transshipped to evade duties, attracting the higher reciprocal rate reserved for transshipped goods under the 2025 US tariff policy instead of the ordinary rate for Vietnamese goods. Beyond duty, the company can face back-duty demands on earlier shipments, prolonged origin verification and loss of standing with both Vietnamese customs and the US importer.
What are the origin requirements?
Goods claiming Vietnamese origin must undergo substantial transformation in Vietnam under the importing market’s non-preferential origin rules: the production process must change the goods’ nature, name or use. Repacking, labelling, sorting or simple assembly creates no new origin. Origin is proven with production records and input material documents, not with an origin certificate alone.
How can circumvention findings be avoided?
Avoid findings by designing the route to match its true nature: if goods only pass through Vietnam, declare transshipment honestly and keep the original origin when entering the US; if Vietnamese origin is wanted, carry out genuine production in Vietnam with full norms and records. Absolutely avoid structures such as importing finished goods and swapping labels or documents, or declaring a fictitious producing factory, because these are the priority markers in circumvention investigations.
What documents should be prepared?
Prepare transport documents and declarations showing the shipment’s true journey; for goods made in Vietnam add a production file with material norms, input purchase documents, production orders and factory production costs; and keep a ready origin explanation pack to answer US customs queries within short deadlines. Documents must be retained for the statutory period to serve post-clearance verification.
Bottom line for exporters and logistics providers
Lawful transshipment via Vietnam remains a normal transport activity, but it creates no Vietnamese origin and must not be used as a shell for duty-evading goods. The safe company declares the route’s true nature and keeps production or journey records strong enough to answer any origin query.