Korea has emerged as a key route for relabeling Chinese products. As Chinese goods pass through Korea, they are being relabeled as "Made in Korea."
According to data on detected illegal transshipment exports obtained by Rep. Park Soo-young of the People Power Party from the Korea Customs Service on the 29th, from 2020 to Aug. this year, there were a total of 103 cases in which goods were exported by routing through Korea from abroad and were caught, amounting to 838.2 billion won. Of these, cases with China as the country of origin (the starting country of the transshipment export) numbered 88, accounting for 85% of the total, and 651.5 billion won (77%) by value.
Transshipment exports are a method in which goods are first sent from the origin country to a transit country to receive a lower tariff, then exported to the final destination. The Korea Customs Service has been tracking statistics on detected transshipment exports since this year, when tariff issues have drawn global attention. This is the first time detailed statistics have been released.
According to the Korea Customs Service, the number of cases in which Chinese products were caught attempting to be exported to other countries via Korea was only 15 cases (43.3 billion won) in 2020, 13 cases (42.7 billion won) in 2021, 21 cases (210.4 billion won) in 2022, 14 cases (118.8 billion won) in 2023, and 8 cases (29.5 billion won) in 2024. But this year, by August alone, a total of 17 cases worth 206.8 billion won—more than double last year's case count and nearly 10 times the value—of Chinese product relabeling were detected.
In particular, cases detected while attempting to go to the United States via Korea totaled 4 (6.8 billion won), or just 14% of the total, in 2020, but by August this year reached 15 cases (349.4 billion won), or 75% of the total.
Rep. Park Soo-young's office said, "Since 2020, 85% of detected transshipment exports have been Chinese-made, and this year the share of Chinese-made goods also exceeds 70%," adding, "Because the United States is applying a high 30% tariff on China amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the overwhelming majority of transshipment exports bound for the United States are likely Chinese-made."
Rep. Park said, "Export powerhouse South Korea must not be reduced to a transshipment route for other countries such as China," and "the Korea Customs Service should investigate more strictly and thoroughly to tighten enforcement against illegal transshipment exports."