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Alejandro Alcolea
WriterWriter at Xataka. I studied education and music, but since 2014 I've been writing about my passion: video games and technology. I specialize in product analysis, photography, and video. My body is 70% coffee.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on nearly all countries, with particularly high levies of up to 145% on certain products from China. In turn, the Asian nation has responded with a 125% tariff on American goods. As a result, some Chinese sellers are exploring alternative methods to circumvent Trump’s tariffs and continue selling to the U.S. One method involves relabeling products.
Relabeling. According to Reuters, South Korean customs authorities recently discovered a network involved in relabeling Chinese products. This network allows Chinese companies to import their products into South Korea, replace the original “Made in China” labels with South Korean tags, and then export those products to other countries.
This tactic is proving effective. The U.S. imposes steep tariffs on specific Chinese products, whereas South Korea’s levies are much lower and have been paused for three months. This method allows Chinese companies to bypass U.S. trade barriers and maintain sales in one of their key markets.
The products. The items involved aren’t trivial. South Korean customs have discovered high-value goods, including surveillance cameras worth around $13.4 million and materials used in battery production valued at about $2.3 million.
After these products arrive in South Korea, they’re minimally processed or not processed at all. However, they’re relabeled as if they’re of South Korean origin and then exported to the U.S. Since South Korea has a free trade agreement with the U.S., it serves as an appealing gateway to evade tariffs.
Recurring trend. This tactic isn’t new. During the previous trade war, which particularly affected Huawei, Chinese companies employed similar methods to get around trade restrictions. In that case, they labeled their products as if they were manufactured in Vietnam, Malaysia, and South Korea. However, Trump’s new tariff policies have seen an increase in this questionable practice.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, South Korean customs detected violations of origin for goods worth around $20.5 million, with 97% of these violations intended for the U.S. To put this in perspective, in 2024, these violations were estimated at about $24 million, with 62% also aimed at the U.S. market.
Implications. The correlation between recent tariffs and relabeling practices is evident, leading South Korea to intensify its efforts to intercept these products. To address the issue, the Asian country has created a special task force dedicated to investigating and combating these practices through surprise inspections and closer collaboration with U.S. authorities.
However, these practices can harm the reputation of companies that legitimately export their products. Administrations will have to protect the integrity and safety of these exports, focusing on companies with the most opaque supply chains.
It works. According to Enterprise, South Korea isn’t the only country facing these challenges. In February, some Chinese companies were revealed to be shipping goods to Mexico. There, they would be relabeled and distributed in smaller packages before being smuggled into the U.S. market. China’s approach clearly seems to be effective.
An example unrelated to current tariffs involves North Korean hair products. North Korean companies import fake hair from China, assemble it into eyelashes or wigs, and then send the finished products back to Chinese companies for distribution. Notably, these products are labeled as “Made in China” rather than “Made in North Korea.”
Image | Daniel Bernard
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