The New York Times reports:

As President Trump’s tariffs have ratcheted up in recent months, so have the mysterious solicitations some U.S. companies have received, offering them ways to avoid the taxes.

Shipping companies, many of them based in China, have reached out to U.S. firms that import apparel, auto parts and jewelry, offering solutions that they say can make the tariffs go away.

“We can avoid high duties from China, which we have already done many in the past,” read one email to a U.S. importer.

“Beat U.S. Tariffs,” a second read, promising to cap the tariffs “at a flat 10%.” It added: “You ship worry free.”

“Good News! The tariffs has been dropped finally!” another proclaimed.

The proposals — which are circulating in emails, as well as in videos on TikTok and other platforms — reflect a new flood of fraudulent activity, according to company executives and government officials. As U.S. tariffs on foreign products have increased sharply in recent months, so have the incentives for companies to find ways around them.

The Chinese firms advertising these services describe their methods as valid solutions. For a fee, they find ways to bring products to the United States with much lower tariffs. But experts say these practices are methods of customs fraud. The companies may be dodging tariffs by altering the information about the shipments that is given to the U.S. government to qualify for a lower tariff rate. Or they may move the goods to another country that is subject to a lower tariff before shipping them to the United States, a technique known as transshipment.

The Trump administration said this month that it would focus more on fighting trade fraud, including tariff evasion. The administration is also trying to persuade other countries to step up their own enforcement efforts, including in trade talks with Vietnam, Mexico and Malaysia. But many American companies say the scale of illicit activity now far outweighs the ability of these governments to thwart it.

These schemes are costing the U.S. government billions of dollars in tariff revenue annually, executives and officials say. And they are leaving honest companies that pay tariffs deeply frustrated and worried about being left at a financial disadvantage to dishonest competitors. [Continue reading…]