The Trump administration has accused major world economies of routing exports through more than 40 third countries to avoid US tariffs, claiming in a report on Thursday that the practice results in annual tax revenue losses of between $19 billion (€16.4bn) and $26 billion (€22.4bn).
Pointing a finger at China and India, Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, told reporters the administration would incorporate anti-transhipment clauses into new trade rules, and that partners found enabling the practice would face consequences.
He said US Customs and Border Protection had begun using AI to identify transshipped goods, and warned that importers found to have falsified a product's country of origin could face retroactive tariffs stretching back roughly a year.
The report estimates that between $34.2 billion (€29.6bn) and $303 billion (€262.2bn) worth of goods are transshipped annually to avoid duties, using a central figure of $75 billion (€64.9bn) to calculate the revenue loss range.
Transhipment, or the routing of goods through an intermediate country to disguise their origin, has increased since the US imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods beginning in 2018 under Trump's first term, and again after tariffs were dramatically raised in 2025.
