SHANGHAI, Nov 1 (SMM) – China's exports of aluminium extrusion to Vietnam, around 10-12% of China’s total exports since 2018, will likely face impact after a place-of-origin fraud was uncovered in the South-east Asia country. 

Vietnam authorities seized a suspicious aluminium shipment worth $4 million that was heading to the US and other countries, an official said on October 30. 

The shipment belonged to a corporation that imported aluminium ingots, bars and semi-finished products from foreign countries to export to the US. It was reported that the company’s inventory amounted to 1.8 million mt, worth about $4.3 billion.

The Vietnam customs authority said it has worked with the US to probe into the case.

Amid the ongoing US-China trade war, some products are being falsely labelled as ‘made-in-Vietnam’ to try to evade US anti-dumping duties.

Aluminium exports from Vietnam to the US were subject to a tax of about 15%, but China’s products were levied at up to 374%. 

Vietnam is the top export destination for China’s aluminium extrusion, according to China’s customs data. 

SMM calculations indicated that, between June and September, China exported 41,100 mt of aluminium extrusion to Vietnam, accounting for 11.56% of its total exports, even as Vietnam started to impose an anti-dumping tax of 2.46%-35.58% on several Chinese-origin aluminium products from early June.