 "China labelling ‘Made In Korea’ on its products to bypass Trump tariffs? Seoul finds violations worth $21 bn")
South Korea’s customs office said on Monday that there has been a rise in attempts to disguise foreign items as Korean exports, particularly from China, in order to escape US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Following a special investigation last month, the Korea Customs Service reported 29.5 billion won ($20.81 million) in country of origin breaches from the first quarter, with 97% of the total attributed to shipments intended for the United States.
This compares to a total of 34.8 billion won in breaches in 2024, with 62% of them involving exports heading for the United States.
Trump, who took office in January, has put large tariffs on a variety of items and nations, including those on China, which began to increase in February.
“There was a rise in disguised export attempts during Trump’s first presidency and we expect there to be a similar trend,” said Lee Kwang-woo, investigation planning director at the KCS.
Anticipating increased risks, authorities conducted the latest investigation preemptively to prevent illegal exports. They have already found signs of such attempts to avoid Trump’s tariffs from the first quarter, Lee said during a media briefing.
On Monday, South Korean customs officials held a meeting with U.S. officials to discuss joint investigation efforts.
South Korean officials have said there could be a rise in attempts by foreign companies, such as those in neighbouring China, to use South Korea, which is a major U.S. ally and has a free-trade pact, as a bypass to avoid tariffs and regulations.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTrump slapped 25% tariffs on South Korea this month, among a new set of sweeping levies, which were later suspended for three months. The U.S. now imposes 145% tariffs on China after back-and-forth retaliatory actions, which economists say have severed trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Monday’s findings include 3.3 billion won worth of cathode materials used for batteries, imported from China and shipped to the U.S. with South Korea falsely marked as the country of origin, to avoid already high tariffs in January even before Trump’s tariffs took effect.
In March, 19.3 billion won worth of surveillance cameras were imported from China in parts and reassembled in South Korea to bypass U.S. restrictions on Chinese communication devices.
Some of the goods have been shipped abroad while others are still at the port.
The Korea Customs Service has launched a special task force to prevent attempts to illegally export such goods and plans to come up with more specific response measures to protect domestic companies. Meanwhile, the violations discovered will be referred to prosecutors.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
