US says EU and several states aid China in dodging American tariffs — The Debate
A White House report accuses the European Union and key members of facilitating Chinese goods to evade US duties.
United States has charged the European Union and a number of its members with helping China bypass US duties by routing products through third‑party nations, a White House report said on 13 August.
The 25‑page analysis, titled The Great Transshipment Scam and issued by the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, places the EU in the highest risk tier, alongside Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea, Israel and Taiwan. It says these jurisdictions handle large volumes of China‑linked goods that can be re‑exported to the United States.
The report notes that the transshipment risk is woven into legitimate trade flows, meaning not every shipment is illegal but the scale creates opportunities for origin‑shifting.
Within the EU, the analysis points to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania as part of a "Central and Eastern European processing belt" where Chinese components may be assembled, tested or repackaged before reaching the US under European paperwork.
It also highlights Belgium and the Netherlands as "developed logistics platforms" valued for their customs systems, deep‑water ports and re‑export networks, grouping them with Canada, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey.
The accusations come as the EU is already tightening customs checks on Chinese imports, a move that could reshape supply chains across the continent and increase compliance costs for European manufacturers.
Peter Navarro, head of the White House office that produced the report, told reporters that the scheme has let China "launder its exports through more than 40 countries, rob our Treasury of tens of billions of dollars and steal the pay cheques of American workers."
The practice is described as "fraud cloaked in paperwork", involving relabelling, minor processing, re‑invoicing or false country‑of‑origin claims that fall short of substantial transformation.
Estimates of the annual value of potentially illegal transshipped goods vary, with the White House Council of Economic Advisers citing roughly $60 billion and other analysts suggesting up to $303 billion. Corresponding tariff losses are put at $19‑$26 billion a year, implying around 450,000 US jobs at risk.
The European Commission has already set up an import surveillance task force and a customs‑data monitoring tool to curb diverted Chinese goods entering the EU market. Maroš Šefčovič, the bloc's trade commissioner, said these steps would strengthen the EU's capacity to halt surges of diverted imports.
If Washington pursues stricter enforcement, European firms that rely on Chinese components may face higher compliance costs, prompting a shift towards domestic sourcing and greater coordination between Brussels and Washington on trade defence.
The report also mentions the use of artificial‑intelligence tools to detect anomalous routing patterns at borders, a development that could influence how European customs authorities monitor transshipment risks.