Vietnam uncovers firm making counterfeit Nike shoes for export following US tip

The tip came from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), according to the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

In June, the department received initial information from HSI about a suspected operation producing Nike-branded shoes in Vietnam for export to the United States.

The department immediately worked with HSI to verify the information, gather additional information and develop a confidential inspection plan to prevent the suspected violators from disposing of the goods.

The verification process found that the scale of the case was far larger than initially reported.

From an initial estimate of around 12,000 suspicious pairs of shoes, authorities determined that nearly 50,000 pairs were being produced and were virtually indistinguishable from genuine products.

Even the authentication codes on individual pairs had been copied from genuine shoes.

More seriously, some of the suspected counterfeit goods had already been exported to the U.S. market.

On July 16, the department inspected MP, a company headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, over its compliance with regulations governing the production and trading of goods.

The inspection was carried out in coordination with the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security and local police.

During the inspection, authorities found the company producing and storing large quantities of finished and unfinished shoes bearing the ‘Nike,’ ‘Nike Air’ and ‘Air Jordan’ trademarks, all owned by Nike.

The inspection uncovered 25,396 pairs of finished shoes bearing Nike and Air Jordan trademarks, valued at more than VND12.3 billion (US$467,300).

Authorities also found 20,875 pairs of shoe uppers and 10,800 pairs of soles bearing the Nike trademark still being completed, with a combined value of more than VND11.2 billion ($425,500).

Based on market prices, the total value of the goods was estimated at more than VND100 billion ($3.8 million).

MP representatives told inspectors that all of the goods had been manufactured under a processing contract signed with F.C.T., its foreign partner, which supplied the raw materials, while MP manufactured the shoes according to orders and returned the finished products to the partner for export.

To explain the origin of the goods, MP presented documents including the processing contract, emails exchanged with its partner, documents purportedly authorizing the use of Nike trademarks and export records.

According to the documents provided by MP, the company had exported 11 containers of finished Nike- and Air Jordan-branded shoes to the U.S. market from early 2026 until the inspection, with a declared value of more than VND25.46 billion ($967,300).

However, according to a document from Nike Vietnam and a letter from the senior director of global licensing at Nike Inc., Nike had never issued any related license, contract or authorization to MP.

Based on the inspection findings, documents provided by the company, confirmation from the trademark owner and information exchanged by HSI, the inspection team determined that all of the aforementioned goods showed signs of infringing trademarks protected in Vietnam.

The Department of Domestic Market Management and Development described the case as one of the largest and most complex intellectual property infringement cases uncovered in recent years, involving a huge quantity of goods and cross-border activities among organizations and businesses in the U.S., China and Vietnam.

It said the case also highlights how international processing arrangements and allegedly forged legal documents can be exploited to introduce counterfeit goods into cross-border supply chains.

The department is continuing to strengthen the case file and expand its investigation into the origins of the raw materials and the importing partners.

The case is expected to be transferred to investigative authorities for further action, with the department seeking to uncover the full extent of the violation network.