The White House on Thursday accused more than 40 countries of helping China evade U.S. tariffs by serving as pass-through points for Chinese-made goods, part of a broader report on what it called a “Shadow Transshipment Network.”
The report names Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and dozens of other nations, ranging as far afield as Israel, as participants in a system that allows Chinese exporters to relabel or lightly reprocess goods abroad before shipping them to the U.S. at a lower tariff rate. The administration estimates the practice costs the U.S. up to $26 billion annually in lost tariff revenue.
The accusation adds a new layer of friction to trade relationships with dozens of countries simultaneously, many of which have their own separate trade agreements or ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington. It is not yet clear whether the administration plans new tariffs or enforcement actions targeting the named countries specifically, or whether it intends to press China directly over the findings.
The White House has accused more than 40 countries of assisting China in circumventing United States trade tariffs. According to federal officials, these nations have participated in transshipment practices that effectively disguise the origin of Chinese goods, allowing exporters to bypass duties imposed on products entering the American market.
Officials estimate that the tariff-dodging operations result in substantial financial losses for the federal government, costing the United States between $19 billion and $26 billion annually in uncollected revenue. Under the alleged transshipment schemes, Chinese products are routed through intermediary third-party nations before reaching U.S. ports, concealing their manufacturing origins to avoid tariffs established to regulate trade between the two economic powers.
The public identification of dozens of countries involved in these trade practices highlights the ongoing challenges associated with enforcing cross-border customs regulations. By calling out the extensive network of nations allegedly facilitating the evasion, U.S. authorities have placed renewed focus on global supply chain oversight and the measures used by foreign exporters to mitigate the impact of American trade policies.