Made in Vietnam: Hanoi cracks down on fake goods as US tariffs loom

HANOI - Since the United States accused Vietnam of being a hub for counterfeit goods, Ms Tran Le Chi has found it increasingly hard to track down her favourite fake Chanel T-shirts, Gucci sunglasses and Louis Vuitton handbags.

As Vietnam’s government tries to head off US President Donald Trump’s threatened 46 per cent tariff, it has launched a crackdown on fake products – in part to show responsiveness to US concerns.

Now there are streets filled with shuttered shops in Hanoi and rows of closed stalls at Saigon Square shopping mall, a major clothing market in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ms Chi – a betting agent for an illegal game known as lo-de, where punters predict the last two lotto numbers of the standard daily draw – said she had never paid more than US$40 (S$51.50) per “designer” item.

“Only the super-rich people can afford the real ones,” she added. “They’re not for people like us.”

Communist-run Vietnam is a manufacturing powerhouse that produces clothing and footwear for international brands, with the US its No. 1 export market in the first five months of 2025.

But it also has a thriving market for counterfeit goods.

In a report published by the US Trade Representative in January, Saigon Square shopping mall was flagged as a major market for the sale of fake luxury items including handbags, wallets, jewellery and watches.

The report noted government efforts to stamp out the trade, but said “low penalties have had little deterrent effect” and “counterfeit products remain rampant”.

Shop owner Hoa, a pseudonym to protect her identity, said almost all of the fake Nike, Lacoste and North Face products she sells in her shop in Hanoi’s old quarter are from China – but tagged with a “Made in Vietnam” label to make them seem authentic.

She insists that all her customers know what they’re getting.

“My clients are those who cannot afford authentic products,” Ms Hoa said. “I’ve never cheated anyone.”

Hanoi and Washington are in the thick of trade talks, with Vietnam doing everything it can to avoid the crushing 46 per cent tariff that could come into force in early July.

Vietnam’s Trade Ministry ordered the authorities in April to tighten control over the origin of goods after the Trump administration accused the country of facilitating Chinese exports to the US and allowing Beijing to get around tariffs.

The Public Security Ministry also said there would be a three-month-long crackdown – until mid-August – on counterfeit goods.

Mr Nguyen Thanh Nam, deputy head of the Agency for Domestic Market Surveillance and Development, said last week that in the first five months of 2025, more than 7,000 cases of counterfeit products worth more than US$8 million had been discovered.

He added that 1,000 fake Rolex watches had been seized from Saigon Square shopping mall.

Mounds of vitamins, cosmetics and sweets – seemingly also counterfeits – have appeared at waste grounds outside cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, while fake electronics including Marshall speakers and smartwatches have been confiscated.

Police have not specified the origin of the goods, but Vietnam was South-east Asia’s biggest buyer of Chinese products in 2024, with a bill of US$161.9 billion.

Dr Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that although there were other aims of the drive, including improving Vietnam’s business environment and formalising the retail sector, “the campaign plays a role in Vietnam’s strategy to appease the US”.

“The effort partly reflects Vietnam’s intent to show responsiveness to US concerns,” he said.

But for Ms Hoa, her livelihood is on the line. Her shop has been closed for almost two weeks and she has no idea how to restart the business.

“I have sold these sorts of clothes for a decade and experienced no problem at all. Now they crack down on us, it’s hard to figure out how I continue,” she said. AFP