Peter Navarro Accuses India, Others, Of Helping China Evade Tariffs

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – “A Chinese pump that leaves Pune as Indian is a pump not machined in Cincinnati, Dayton or Columbus,” US trade adviser Peter Navarro said, as Washington accused more than 40 countries, including India, of being part of what it called a “shadow trans-shipment network” that helps China circumvent US tariffs.

In a report titled ‘The Great Transshipment Scam,’ Navarro said Chinese goods were increasingly being routed through third countries after the Trump administration imposed tariffs on Chinese imports in 2018. The report identified India’s Pune-Gujarat-Chennai production belt as one of the locations through which Chinese pumps and compressors are being routed into the US market.

Navarro argued that goods routed through India and other countries can enter the US while avoiding tariffs that would apply if they were shipped directly from China.

The report estimated the annual value of illegally transshipped goods at between $40 billion and $303 billion, depending on the methodology and definition used.

It said Chinese manufacturers and trading companies could route products through countries with lower labor costs, weaker customs oversight, permissive free-trade zones or preferential access to the US market.

The US plans to use artificial intelligence to identify suspected transshipment. The system is expected to analyze shipment data, routing histories, product classifications, ownership links, production capacity and other indicators to identify potentially fraudulent trade flows.

Navarro said the increased use of transshipment followed the imposition of US tariffs on China in 2018, which prompted companies to seek alternative routes for Chinese-made goods.