As the prospect of the US-China trade war continues to be unpredictable, many Chinese manufacturers have turned to Vietnam to set up plants in the hope of avoiding high tariffs.
The statistics show that, in the first seven months of this year, the Southeast Asian country attracted US$20.2 billion in foreign investment, down 13.4 percent from the same period last year.
China topped other countries by investing US$1.78 billion in Vietnam in the first seven months. However, due to the large number of investment projects, a total of 364, the average size of each investment was quite small.
With the ongoing US-China trade war, since last year, Chinese manufacturers have set up small-size plants in Vietnam. The purpose is to import semi-finished products from China, change the country of production, and then sell to the U.S. and European markets to avoid high tariffs.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs reported that 15 products imported from China have shown a significant growth. Six of them are on the list of targets for high tariff sanctions that the United States has imposed on China, including timber products, electric wires, electronic components, mobile phones, furniture, household appliances, and leather shoes.
Source: Central News Agency, July 30, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/afe/201907300115.aspx