Vietnam launches piracy crackdown as U.S. revives tariff threat

Vietnam will launch a nationwide crackdown on online piracy and counterfeit goods on May 7, a move shaped as much by tariff pressure from Washington as by domestic enforcement. Hanoi set a target of boosting detections by at least 20% this month and ordered customs officials to raise the number of cases involving suspended clearance procedures and later processing by at least 20% from May 2025 levels.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung directed ministries to step up action against copyright infringement and counterfeit shipments through customs, while the finance ministry was told to tighten enforcement across the border. The campaign runs through May 30 and reaches beyond ports and warehouses. It targets major piracy websites, counterfeit goods, films, online video games, industrial property rights, trademark infringements and copyright violations, a sign that Vietnam is trying to show it can police both physical supply chains and digital distribution.

The stakes are economic as well as legal. In 2025, the United States was Vietnam’s largest export market, with shipments worth $153.2 billion, while China was Vietnam’s largest import market at $186.0 billion. That imbalance puts Vietnam in a narrow corridor: electronics, garments and footwear assembled for foreign multinationals depend heavily on parts and raw materials from China, but the finished products are sold into the U.S. market. If Hanoi’s crackdown is credible, U.S. rights holders, branded manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies could benefit from fewer counterfeit goods and less piracy bleeding into supply chains. If it is cosmetic, counterfeit networks, online operators and traders in illicit goods will likely carry on as before.

The pressure from Washington has hardened the backdrop. The United States Trade Representative’s 2026 Special 301 Report named Vietnam a Priority Foreign Country, the first time any country has received that designation in 13 years. The report reviewed more than 100 trading partners and placed 25 countries on the Priority Watch List or Watch List, but Vietnam stood out as the most severe case. U.S. officials have also warned that a tariff investigation could be opened by the end of May, giving Hanoi a deadline as well as a threat.

Vietnam’s latest move follows a January 30 directive from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to strengthen intellectual-property enforcement, suggesting the crackdown was already building before the tariff warning intensified. The question now is whether the campaign becomes a lasting shift in enforcement priorities or a short-lived concession meant to defuse a larger trade fight.