COUNTRY OF ORIGIN VIOLATIONS
Jeffrey A. Newman
Seoul’s customs agency has revealed that it has found millions of US dollars worth of Chinese exports were disguised to evade the tariffs imposed by the U.S. Government on Chinese goods. The products, made in Mainland Chine, were marked as Korean exports.The Korea Customs Service said it has found 29.5 billion won (US$20.7 million) from the first quarter, with US-bound shipments accounting for 97 per cent of the total, after a special investigation last month.”There was a rise in disguised export attempts during Trump’s first presidency and we expect there to be a similar trend,” said Lee Kwang-woo, investigation planning director at the Korea Customs Service. South Korean customs officials held a meeting with US officials to discuss joint investigation efforts.
In March, 19.3 billion won worth of surveillance cameras were imported from China in parts and reassembled in South Korea to bypass US restrictions on Chinese communication devices..
The Korea Customs Service has launched a special task force to prevent illegal export attempts and plans to come up with more specific response measures to protect domestic companies. Meanwhile, the violations discovered will be referred to prosecutors.
Jeff Newman JD MBA, represents whistleblowers in tariff fraud cases concerning imported Chinese goods as well as Medicare and Medicaid fraud cases under the False Claims Act (Qui Tam), and SEC, IRS and FINCEN whistleblower programs. He can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
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