Tariff fraud in the China trade: Who is responsible, and why does it continue

Posted on August 4, 2026

By Jeffrey A. Newman, Esq. MBA with ai help

Every shipment that enters the United States comes with a story told on paper. Before a container is unloaded in Los Angeles, Newark, or Savannah, the importer files a set of documents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection: an entry summary, a commercial...

Tariff evasion is rising, but whistleblowers are playing a key role in exposing it

Posted on July 13, 2026

By Jeffrey A. Newman, Esq., MBA (withj ai help) Tariffs only work if importers actually pay them. That sounds obvious. But as U.S. duty rates have climbed, the incentive to evade them has climbed along with them. Every percentage point added to a...

U.S. Customs unveils major tariff evasion scheme on imported quartz surface products from China

Posted on July 24, 2021

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has uncovered a scheme to evade tariffs and dumping laws regarding quartz surface products from Mainland China. Simpli Home Ltd. is alleged to have evaded existing tariffs on quartz surface products. By importing bathroom vanities from Vietnam that incorporate quartz surface products from China, Simpli Home Ltd....

U.S. Customs rules U.S. importer Vivaldi evades duties on Chinese quartz products mislabeled as crushed glass

Posted on May 26, 2021

U.S. Customs and Border Protection preliminarily found that two major U.S. importers Vivaldi Commercial LLC and Vivaldi Interiors evaded duties when they imported quartz surface products of Chinese producer Xiamen Sunrise Stone Company Ltd by describing the merchandize as ECO Glass or slabs of crushed glass and failed to report that it...

District of Columbia expands whistleblower law to allow individuals to bring suits for tax law violations and win awards upto 30%

Posted on January 27, 2021

A new law in Washington D.C. amends the District's False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions for violations of District tax laws. These are lawsuits through which private individuals assisting a prosecution can retain part of the taxes and...

An Overview of Tariff and Customs Fraud

Posted on July 15, 2020

When importers intentionally fail to pay the required tariffs on goods that they bring into the country, this is a form of fraud. Not only does this type of activity deprive the government of valuable revenue, but it undermines our country’s trade policy and gives cheating companies an unfair advantage over their...

Furniture business exec who falsified documents evading $1.4 million in duties on Chinese goods sentenced to one year home detention

Posted on September 20, 2019

A furniture business executive who falsified documents to avoid more than $1.4 million in import duties on the Chinese goods he sold was sentenced to a year of home detention Monday. Jeff Zeng, president of Blue Furniture Solutions, was also sentenced to spend two additional years on supervised release...

Massachusetts chiropractor sentenced to prison for income tax evasion

Posted on September 11, 2019

The owner of a chiropractic business was sentenced to 6 months in prison for tax evasion after pleading guilty to the charge in June 2019, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department's Tax Division. Richard Rogers, a...

Data analytics shows that Chinese companies misclassifying goods to evade US customs tariffs

Posted on September 3, 2019

GateHouse Media data analysts say Chinese importers are misclassifying of products to the US by changing product codes to avoid the higher tariffs. In particular, the analysis reveals nearly a dozen Chinese imports — including woven fabrics, furniture mounts and lamps are being misclassified. The findings correspond with the information provided during...

LLB Verwaltung Swiss bank to pay 10.6 million to the U.S. for concealing U.S. tax evaders from the IRS

Posted on August 5, 2019

LLB Verwaltung (Switzerland) AG, formerly known as “Liechtensteinische Landesbank (Schweiz) AG” (LLB-Switzerland), a Swiss-based private bank, will pay a penalty of $10,680,554.64 to the United States. According to the statement of facts agreed to by the parties, LLB-Switzerland and some of its employees, including members of the bank’s management, conspired with a...

Category: Tariff Evasion

Category: Tariff Evasion

Tariff fraud in the China trade: Who is responsible, and why does it continue

Tariff evasion is rising, but whistleblowers are playing a key role in exposing it

U.S. Customs unveils major tariff evasion scheme on imported quartz surface products from China

U.S. Customs rules U.S. importer Vivaldi evades duties on Chinese quartz products mislabeled as crushed glass

District of Columbia expands whistleblower law to allow individuals to bring suits for tax law violations and win awards upto 30%

An Overview of Tariff and Customs Fraud

Furniture business exec who falsified documents evading $1.4 million in duties on Chinese goods sentenced to one year home detention

Massachusetts chiropractor sentenced to prison for income tax evasion

Data analytics shows that Chinese companies misclassifying goods to evade US customs tariffs

LLB Verwaltung Swiss bank to pay 10.6 million to the U.S. for concealing U.S. tax evaders from the IRS