A message to American business
Tariff fraud on imported Chinese goods is undercutting honest U.S. companies. The False Claims Act gives you a way to fight back — and collect up to 30% of what the government recovers.
The Problem
If a competitor's price is too low to be real, the answer may be customs fraud. They import goods from China but tell U.S. Customs the goods came from Vietnam, Malaysia, or Mexico — dodging the tariffs you pay in full. Or they declare a value far below what the goods actually cost.
That's not competition. That's fraud — and it's happening at a scale that's hard to overstate. While you compete on quality, service, and an honest price, a rival is winning by lying to the government.
The Law
Signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to stop fraud against the government, the False Claims Act lets a private party sue on behalf of the United States when someone cheats the government out of money it's owed. Tariffs are money owed to the government.
If the case succeeds, the whistleblower — the "relator" — collects between 15% and 30% of what the government recovers. And because the government can recover triple damages plus penalties, those recoveries are getting enormous.
Proof It Works
A California flooring competitor, Urban Global, exposed a rival importing Chinese-made flooring declared "Made in Malaysia" to dodge tariffs. The importer settled for $8.1 million — and the competitor collected about $1.2 million.
A U.S. pipe-fitting manufacturer caught a competitor describing Chinese welded outlets as "steel couplings" to dodge a 182.9% duty. A jury ruled for the whistleblower, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed the $26 million judgment.
The largest customs-fraud case in history — Chinese aluminum extrusions disguised as "pallets." The Aluminum Extruders Council, a trade association of American competitors, was among the whistleblowers.
The Catch
You can't sue someone for being suspiciously cheap. To win, you have to demonstrate the fraud — the false country of origin, the understated value, the fudged classification.
That's why these cases are built on evidence, not suspicion: shipping records, bills of lading, the goods themselves, and a pattern repeated across dozens or hundreds of entries. When the paperwork says "Malaysia" but the factory says China, that's not a hunch — that's a false claim.
Level the Playing Field
If you're paying your tariffs and competing honestly, you shouldn't have to watch a rival win by lying to the government. The False Claims Act stops the fraud, recovers the money, and rewards the person who comes forward.
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