US tariff evasion: White House flags 40 countries

The Trump administration has flagged more than 40 US trading partners as potential risks for helping Chinese goods evade tariffs through illegal transshipment.

A White House report released Thursday named economies including the European Union, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, India, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. It said some countries have transshipment risk within broad legitimate trade flows, while others are more closely tied to China-linked supply chains or have preferential access to the US market that could make rerouting attractive.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters that the administration was working with US Customs and Border Protection on an AI-enabled system to assess whether shipments involve transshipped goods. The report said such a system could use shipment data, routing histories and other tools.

The report targets what the administration describes as illegal transshipment, in which goods are sent through a third country facing lower US tariffs to avoid higher levies on Chinese imports.