Дата публикации: 14-08-2026 15:23:15

The ‘great transshipment scam’ defined by the White House takes a typical circumvention structure where China, a target of sanctions and high tariffs, evades the U.S. tariff network through third countries. (Photo Source, MBC)The White House has unexpectedly released a mammoth comprehensive report t

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The “Great Transshipment Scam” as defined by the White House involves a classic evasion structure in which China, a target of sanctions and high-rate tariffs, bypasses the U.S. tariff network by routing goods through third countries. (Photo source: MBC)

The ‘great transshipment scam’ defined by the White House takes a typical circumvention structure where China, a target of sanctions and high tariffs, evades the U.S. tariff network through third countries. (Photo Source, MBC)

The White House has unexpectedly released a mammoth comprehensive report titled ‘The Great Transshipment Scam: How Rogue Nations and Global Arbitrageurs Evade U.S. Tariffs,’ jointly authored by the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

This report nakedly uncovers the realities of ‘transshipment’ and ‘origin laundering’ conducted through third countries by major sanctioned nations such as China to evade the high tariffs imposed by the United States amid the U.S.-China hegemonic competition. The U.S. government defined this not as a simple violation of trade laws but as an ‘organized fraudulent act threatening the economic security of the United States,’ forewarning ultra-hardline sanctions and the reinforcement of supply chain tracking systems against third countries and cooperating companies utilized as circumvention routes.

Major manufacturing hub countries, including South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Mexico, which serve as intermediary hubs in the global supply chain and have a high proportion of exports to the United States, are closely monitoring the repercussions this White House measure will bring. This article analyzes the background of the report’s publication, the specific realities, and the impacts it will have on the global trade landscape and the South Korean industry from multiple angles.

Background of the Report Publication: Rapid Increase in ‘Global Arbitrage’ Neutralizing Tariff Barriers

The U.S. administration has thus far pushed policies to protect its domestic manufacturing industry and exclude China’s influence from the global supply chain through high tariffs against China (such as Section 301 tariffs) and raw material security tariffs (Section 232). However, contrary to the US government’s predictions, the decline in the U.S. trade deficit was marginal, and instead, a bizarre phenomenon occurred where exports to the United States. via Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand), Mexico, and the Middle East rapidly increased.

As a result of investigations by U.S. intelligence agencies and the Department of Commerce, it was proven that this was not a relocation of actual production bases, but rather the result of Chinese parts and raw materials passing through third countries and being simply assembled and repackaged without ‘substantial transformation,’ only to have their labels changed to ‘Made in Vietnam’ or ‘Made in Mexico’ before circumventing into the United States.

The ‘great transshipment scam’ defined by the White House takes a typical circumvention structure where China, a target of sanctions and high tariffs, evades the U.S. tariff network through third countries.

First, in phase 1, China exports volumes of raw materials or parts that have not been properly processed, exactly as they are, to third countries that are circumvention targets, such as Vietnam, Mexico, and South Korea. In the subsequent phase 2, the origin is laundered in the third country through simple repackaging, document forgery, or undergoing only the minimum of simple processing. Finally, in phase 3, goods with such altered origins are brought into the U.S. market to unjustly misappropriate duty-free or low-tariff benefits.

Through the report, the White House strongly criticized this behavior as a malicious structure that 1) evades tens of billions in U.S. government tariff revenue, 2) fundamentally neutralizes policies to rebuild manufacturing within the United States, and 3) disadvantages allied companies that comply with lawful trade procedures.

Realities of Origin Laundering and the Four Major Enforcement Stances

Summarizing over 4,000 pages of detailed investigation data, this report contains specific methods of circumvention transshipment and the hardline measures of the U.S. administration to block them.

First, in the area of detecting major circumvention methods and countries of concern, 5 major items like solar panels, secondary battery materials, steel and aluminum, auto parts, and low-cost clothing and consumer goods, were pointed out as representative transshipment scam sectors.

By country, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia have evaded the tariff network by simply assembling Chinese solar cells and modules and exporting them to the United States, while in the case of Mexico, it was revealed that local corporations established by Chinese capital have brought auto parts and steel materials with a Chinese parts ratio exceeding 80% into the United States by utilizing the duty-free benefits of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Furthermore, document forgery crimes are also rampant, such as conspiring with customs brokers and logistics companies to forge bills of lading (B/L) and certificates of origin, or exporting after simple label switching in third-country Free Trade Zones (FTZ).

In response, the U.S. Department of Commerce is setting out to strictly redefine the standard of ‘substantial transformation.’ By significantly strengthening the ‘simple value-added creation’ or ‘tariff shift rule’ that were the existing criteria for determining origin, it was decided not to recognize simple assembly or simple processing where chemical and physical properties do not change as an alteration of origin. Instead, a ‘raw material standard tracking system’ that tracks the initial source of core technologies and raw materials to the very end will be introduced.

Additionally, punitive punishments for customs brokers and logistics companies and measures to expand the supply chain blocklist will be implemented. ‘Secondary Sanctions,’ which issue measures to freeze assets in the United States and prohibit financial transactions, will be applied against overseas logistics companies, customs brokers, and third-country intermediaries that aided or abetted circumvention exports, and overseas companies with a history of violations will be permanently listed on the ‘Blocklist,’ which is subject to total inspection by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Finally, the US Department of Homeland Security is commencing the operation of an AI-based ‘global supply chain X-Ray’ system. By constructing an AI supply chain tracking system that organically combines maritime logistics data, customs declarations, satellite photos, and real-time data analysis, the entire process from the raw material shipment stage to final export will be closely monitored in real time.

Repercussions on the Global Trade Landscape: The End of ‘Free Trade’ and the ‘Supply Chain Real-Name System’

The White House’s publication of the ‘transshipment scam’ report is forewarning a massive tectonic shift in the future global trade order.

First, the contraction of global intermediate goods trade is expected to be inevitable. As the existing triangular trade structure, where ‘Chinese intermediate goods were imported and then exported to the United States after undergoing third-country processing,’ virtually collapses, the barriers to entry for exports to the United States by major global production hub countries such as Southeast Asia and South America will become significantly higher.

Second, the multidimensionalization of protectionism will proceed in earnest. This means that, moving beyond the level of existing simple tariff barriers, the era of the ‘supply chain real-name system’ and ‘origin transparency,’ which requires clearly proving all production processes from the initial mining stage of raw materials to the manufacturing of final finished products, has raised its curtain.

Third, the possibility of the neutralization of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) is heightening. The risk is growing that origin-related provisions of major FTAs or multilateral trade agreements previously concluded by the United States will be brought to massive renegotiation tables, or virtually neutralized as they are pushed aside by the United States’ strengthened internal standards.

Impacts and Tasks for the South Korean Economy and Industry

This report is analyzed to act as a double-edged sword of ‘crisis and opportunity’ for South Korean companies.

First, positive aspects include the resolution of unfair competition and a relative advantage in the ‘clean supply chain.’ If the expedient structure where low-cost dumped Chinese volumes flowed into the United States duty-free through third countries is blocked, the price competitiveness of South Korean battery, solar power, steel, and auto parts companies that have strictly complied with origin regulations and directly invested locally in the United States or built transparent supply chains can be further enhanced.

On the other hand, as a risk factor, a blow to South Korean intermediate goods and local production corporations in Southeast Asia is feared. There is a high possibility that production hubs established in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Mexico by major domestic conglomerates such as Hanwha, Samsung, and LG, as well as small and medium-sized parts companies, will be included as major surveillance targets, and especially in cases where finished products are produced locally using some Chinese raw materials or parts, the risk of export routes being blocked due to high-intensity verification by U.S. Customs and Border Protection is high.

Additionally, as the burden of proof to independently prove the origin of the entire supply chain during the U.S. entry clearance process is shifted onto South Korean companies, the burden of administrative and logistics costs will increase exponentially. Furthermore, in a situation where South Korea’s core export items, such as secondary battery cathode and anode materials and semiconductor materials, still heavily rely on Chinese precursors and minerals, if the U.S. government expands origin tracking all the way to mineral mining sites, it is difficult to exclude the risk that even South Korean finished products could be singled out as targets implicated in the ‘circumvention transshipment scam.’

The White House’s ‘great transshipment scam’ report goes beyond a simple trade report and is a new guideline for the economic security trade order led by the United States. The United States has cast a clear message that it will no longer tolerate China’s trickery of circumvention exports through third countries.

The South Korean government and industry must no longer simply settle for the ‘Made in Korea’ label, but must now stake their lives on 1) building a traceability system for the origin history of the entire supply chain process, 2) reducing reliance on Chinese raw and advanced materials and diversifying the supply chain, and 3) securing preemptive origin pre-clearance through the establishment of a hotline with US customs authorities.

The era of circumvention exports that sought the loopholes of free trade is setting, and the cold reality of the ‘supply chain real-name system,’ where only companies that have proven thorough transparency and legitimacy survive, has approached right before our eyes.

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