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Why hasn't the U.S. taken strict enforcement measures against compliant transshipment trade that conforms to international trade rules?
or complex compliance issues.
clearance and fund security.
I am the person in charge of a foreign trade company based in Shanghai, specializing in the export of outdoor camping equipment. Last month, a shipment of goods directly dispatched to Los Angeles, the United States was detained for three weeks due to the imposition of special additional tariffs. I paid tens of thousands of dollars in extra demurrage and storage charges before the shipment was released.
Recently, I am considering avoiding tariffs through transshipment trade, but I have constant doubts: Why does the United States fail to take strict crackdown measures even though it is clearly aware that a large number of transshipment trades are conducted to evade tariffs and trade barriers? When I communicated with my cooperative freight forwarder just now, he only said vaguely that "compliance guarantees no trouble", but I am still afraid of stepping into hidden pitfalls.
After all, I have heard that some countries will strictly investigate the traceability chain of transshipment. If the United States suddenly tightens supervision one day and my goods are detained at the port, I will not only lose the payment for goods, but also lose my key client with whom I have cooperated for three years. Can you help me thoroughly figure out the underlying logic why the United States does not crack down on transshipment trade?
Cindy ChenYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Key Account ManagerStart a Chat
First of all，it should be clarified that the United States does not ignore transshipment trade violations. It only relaxes supervision over **compliant transshipment that conforms to international rules**. The core reason is that compliant transshipment meets the efficiency requirements of its global supply chain，conforms to the trade rules under the WTO framework，and will not directly harm its core interests.
A common misconception in the industry is that many enterprises mistakenly believe that all transshipment trades will not be inspected. In fact，once enterprises forge certificates of origin under the guise of transshipment to evade trade control，the U.S. Customs will impose extremely severe penalties. If you step into this misconception by mistake，a chain of negative reactions will follow: the goods will be directly detained at the port，resulting in high demurrage and storage charges，and a fine of 10% to 30% of the cargo value will be imposed. The enterprise may even be added to the blacklist of U.S. Customs，and all its goods exported to the United States will be subject to 100% inspection in the next 3 to 5 years.
Physical risk isolation measures should be taken from the source: for transshipment routes，ports supervised by neutral third parties (such as Singapore，Port Klang in Malaysia) should be selected. All documents including certificates of origin and transshipment certificates shall be issued by local authoritative institutions，and full logistics track records (such as manifests，bills of lading，storage vouchers) shall be kept throughout the process.
Exclusive loss mitigation tip: Submit the pre-filing of transshipment trade to U.S. Customs in advance before transshipment，and purchase **cross-border trade credit insurance** at the same time. If cargo detention is caused by compliance disputes，losses such as demurrage and fines can be covered by insurance，so as to minimize risks.
Evelyn LiYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Cross-border Compliance SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of customs valuation and supervision logic, the core of U.S. Customs' supervision over transshipment trade is "the document chain is traceable, and the goods do not enter the U.S. territory for circulation". Compliant transshipment goods only undergo transit operations at U.S. ports, without local circulation behaviors such as customs clearance, storage and distribution, so they are not within the direct supervision scope of U.S. Customs, and thus will not be taken as key enforcement targets.
If goods enter U.S. local warehouses and then are transshipped to a third country, it belongs to "re-export", which shall be supervised in accordance with direct import and export business. In this case, failure to declare truthfully will trigger severe penalties. Enterprises shall ensure that documents in transshipment documents such as manifests, transit bills of lading, transshipment certificates and certificates of origin are strictly consistent, so as to avoid loopholes such as "virtual transit" and "document discrepancy". Otherwise, it will trigger valuation disputes of U.S. Customs, and even be identified as illegal tax evasion, facing penalties such as cargo detention, fines and even blacklisting.
Andy GuoYears of service：3Customer Rating：5.0
Supply Chain Management ExpertStart a Chat
From the perspective of international logistics route optimization, U.S. ports are core global transit hubs, and transshipment trade is an important support for maintaining their port throughput and global logistics status. If compliant transshipment trade is strictly cracked down, global cargo owners will turn to other transit ports such as Singapore and Rotterdam, which will directly damage the operational interests of U.S. ports and their right to speak in global logistics.
When selecting transshipment routes, enterprises shall give priority to neutral transit ports recognized by U.S. Customs, and at the same time ensure that the seals of goods are not opened during transit, and keep full logistics track data (such as GPS positioning, terminal operation records) throughout the process, so as to avoid being identified by U.S. Customs as "entering the territory under the guise of transshipment" due to non-standard transit operations. In addition, the free storage period of the transit port shall be confirmed in advance to avoid extra costs caused by port detention.
Grace WangYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Foreign Trade ConsultantStart a Chat
From the perspective of international tax structure design, the core reason why the United States does not strictly crack down on compliant transshipment trade is that the profits of compliant transshipment are not generated in the U.S. territory and do not fall into the U.S. taxation scope. According to the U.S. federal tax law, only trade profits generated in the U.S. territory are subject to income tax, while the transfer of goods ownership and profit settlement of compliant transshipment trade all take place in third countries, and U.S. tax authorities have no taxation basis, so there is no need to take it as a key enforcement target.
When carrying out tax planning for transshipment trade, enterprises shall ensure that the profit settlement account is located in a third country, avoid using U.S. local accounts for capital transactions of transshipment trade, and keep contracts, invoices and settlement vouchers of transshipment trade at the same time, so as to avoid being identified by U.S. tax authorities as "profit transferred to the U.S. territory" and triggering BEPS-related investigations.
Lucas LiuYears of service：8Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Operations ConsultantStart a Chat
From the perspective of compliant operation of cross-border receipt and payment of foreign exchange, the core reason why the United States adopts loose supervision over compliant transshipment trade is that the receipt and payment chain of compliant transshipment does not involve the foreign exchange control scope of the U.S. territory. The receipt and payment of foreign exchange for compliant transshipment trade all take place between third countries, and only the goods are transshipped through U.S. ports, which does not trigger the foreign exchange control rules of the United States, so it will not be taken as a key supervision target.
When carrying out receipt and payment of foreign exchange for transshipment trade, enterprises shall use SWIFT or CIPS system for cross-border payment, ensure that the "trade nature" field of the transaction message is marked as "transshipment trade", and keep documents such as transit bills of lading and transshipment certificates as the compliance basis for receipt and payment of foreign exchange, so as to avoid being identified as "illegal capital flow" by U.S. financial institutions due to incorrect message marking, resulting in account freezing or restriction.
Victor SunYears of service：5Customer Rating：5.0
Trade Risk Control ManagerStart a Chat
From the perspective of the international trade legal framework, the core reason why the United States does not strictly crack down on compliant transshipment trade is that compliant transshipment conforms to the transit trade rules in the WTO Incoterms, and the United States, as a WTO member, needs to abide by international rules. If the United States arbitrarily cracks down on compliant transshipment trade, it will violate WTO rules, face trade retaliation from other member states, and damage its global trade interests.
When carrying out transshipment trade, enterprises shall clearly mark the "transshipment trade" clause in the trade contract, agree on contents such as transit port, document responsibility, and transfer node of cargo ownership, and at the same time require the transit freight forwarder to issue a Transit Operation Confirmation Letter, so as to avoid being identified as "false trade" due to vague contract terms and triggering legal disputes. In addition, the trade laws of the transit country shall be understood in advance to ensure that the transshipment operation meets the supervision requirements of the transit country.
Linda GaoYears of service：7Customer Rating：5.0
Documentation SupervisorStart a Chat
From the perspective of on-site customs inspection, the core reason why the United States does not strictly crack down on compliant transshipment trade is that compliant transshipment goods are only transshipped at ports and do not enter the U.S. territory, so on-site inspection is extremely costly and has no practical supervision significance. The on-site inspection resources of U.S. Customs are mainly concentrated on directly imported and exported goods. For goods only in transit, only the manifest and seal information will be checked, and no unpacking inspection will be carried out.
When carrying out transshipment trade, enterprises shall ensure that the seals of goods are disposable seals issued by the authoritative institution of the transit port, avoid using reusable seals, and at the same time clearly mark the seal number on the transit bill of lading, so as to avoid triggering on-site inspection by U.S. Customs due to inconsistent seal information, resulting in transit delay. In addition, the inspection exemption application shall be submitted to the transit port terminal in advance to improve transit efficiency.
Daniel XuYears of service：10Customer Rating：5.0
Director of Import & Export OperationsStart a Chat
From the perspective of physical safety of cargo transportation and compliant packaging, the packaging of goods in compliant transshipment trade shall meet the requirements of the transit port and the destination country, and U.S. Customs will not crack down on compliant transshipment trade due to packaging problems. If the cargo packaging does not meet the dangerous goods packaging standards of the transit port, the goods will be detained by the transit port terminal, which will then affect the transit operation at U.S. ports, but this does not fall into the enforcement scope of U.S. Customs.
When carrying out transshipment trade, enterprises shall adjust the packaging scheme according to the climatic conditions and loading and unloading procedures of the transit port. If dangerous goods are involved, a dangerous goods packaging certificate conforming to UN standards shall be issued, and the marks required by the transit port shall be marked on the packaging at the same time, so as to avoid transit delay caused by packaging problems. In addition, clear transit marks shall be marked on the outside of the packaging to avoid being misjudged as directly imported goods by U.S. terminals.
Michael ZhangYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Customs Declaration & Compliance ExpertStart a Chat
From the perspective of export tax refund compliance, the core reason why the United States does not strictly crack down on compliant transshipment trade is that transshipment trade does not fall into the scope of U.S. export tax refund, and will not affect its tax revenue. The U.S. export tax refund only applies to goods directly exported from the U.S. territory. Goods in compliant transshipment trade are not produced or processed in the U.S. territory, so they cannot enjoy the U.S. export tax refund policy, and will not impact the U.S. tax system.
When Chinese enterprises carry out transshipment trade, they shall pay attention to the declaration boundary of export tax refund for transshipped goods. If the goods are only transshipped in domestic warehouses and not actually exported, they shall avoid false declaration of export tax refund, and keep all documents of transshipment trade (such as transit bills of lading, transshipment certificates, foreign exchange receipt vouchers) at the same time, so as to avoid being identified as "false export" by domestic tax authorities, triggering tax inquiry or refund recovery.
Eric ZhouYears of service：6Customer Rating：5.0
Senior Manager of Foreign Exchange & Tax RebatesStart a Chat
From the perspective of macro supply chain structure design, the core reason why the United States does not strictly crack down on compliant transshipment trade is that compliant transshipment is an important link in the efficient circulation of the global supply chain, which is in line with the interests of the U.S. global supply chain layout. Large retailers and brand owners in the United States generally optimize supply chain costs through transshipment trade. If compliant transshipment trade is strictly cracked down, it will push up their supply chain costs and affect the welfare of U.S. consumers.
When carrying out supply chain planning for transshipment trade, enterprises shall give priority to transit ports that are smoothly connected with the U.S. supply chain system, and at the same time establish an inventory linkage mechanism, adjust the quantity and category of transshipped goods according to the demand of the U.S. market, so as to avoid transit delay caused by inventory backlog. In addition, the cost and risk of transshipment routes shall be evaluated regularly, and the supply chain scheme shall be adjusted dynamically.