[International] New White House Report Names Taiwan and Over 40 Countries Aiding China's 'Origin Washing' to Evade US Tariffs
RtiTalk 小編12d ago
On the 13th, the White House in the United States released a latest report titled 'The Great Transshipment Scam,' accusing over 40 countries and regions of assisting China in evading US tariffs through transshipment. Taiwan is listed as a first-tier country under 'Diversified Scale Leaders,' alongside Canada, the European Union, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea. The report estimates that this transshipment method results in an annual loss of US$19 billion to US$26 billion (approximately NT$608 billion to NT$832 billion) in US tariff revenue.
According to Voice of America, the White House report, 'The Great Transshipment Scam,' features an image of the Trojan Horse on its cover, implying that China uses third countries to mask its true origin to evade high US tariffs.
The report states that after the US implemented 'Section 301 tariffs' during President Trump's first term in 2018, Chinese exporters quickly adjusted their strategies. They began rerouting goods originally destined for the US to third countries for minor processing, repackaging, relabeling, or re-invoicing, creating a false impression of 'new origin.' This phenomenon has been termed the 'Great Reallocation' by the White House. These intermediary countries have even gradually developed a global 'shadow transshipment network' encompassing production bases, logistics platforms, free trade zones, bonded warehouses, and re-export centers.
Taiwan Listed as a First-Tier Trade Risk Country 'Using Legitimate Means as Cover'
The report identifies over 40 countries with a higher risk of illicit transshipment and categorizes them into three tiers based on industry scale and transshipment methods.
The first tier, 'Diversified Scale Leaders,' includes Canada, the European Union, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan. The White House points out that these economies have large trade volumes and diverse industrial bases, making transshipment risks hidden within extensive legitimate trade activities and difficult to identify individually.
The second tier is 'Scale Leaders Deeply Integrated with China's Economy,' naming Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. The third tier consists of 'Small Opportunistic Targets,' encompassing over 20 smaller economies such as Cambodia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Jordan. These countries leverage low labor costs, lenient free zone regulations, or weak customs oversight to become popular nodes for the transshipment of China-related goods.
'Origin Washing' Scale Estimated Up to US$300 Billion
The report compiles estimates from five institutions, including Goldman Sachs, the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), the Commerce Department's Office of Trade and Economic Analysis (OTEA), and private firms Exiger and Altana. The scale of illicit transshipment is estimated to be between US$40 billion and US$303 billion annually.
Further estimates in the report suggest that, using a mid-point estimate of US$75 billion, illicit transshipment could lead to the loss of approximately 450,000 US jobs annually, GDP losses of US$113 billion to US$150 billion, and federal tax revenue losses of US$19 billion to US$26 billion. In the most extensive exposure scenario, the losses could exceed 1.8 million jobs and US$455 billion in GDP.
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro stated in a conference call on the 13th, 'For years, the great transshipment scam has allowed Communist China to launder its exports.'
US Establishes AI 'Border Detective' to Strictly Investigate Origin Fraud
The report also details an AI (Artificial Intelligence) program called 'Detective Border,' designed to assist US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in preventing transshipment. Navarro mentioned that if an importer is found to have falsified the origin of goods, tariffs may be retroactively applied, with a look-back period of approximately one year.
This White House report comes as the US and China prepare for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US in September. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer held a video call with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng on July 30th.
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=226187
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