It looks like there are a number of Chinese firms that are working hard to circumvent the tariffs by miscoding the products to change port of origin and other methods of relabeling the products to scrub 'made in China' from the packaging. I'm not sure how widespread this is and whether it's a serious loophole that most of them will exploit or if it's a small few that are doing it. Regardless, I think it's an issue that needs to be addressed ASAP.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-chi...1539009200

Quote:One day in June, seven months after the U.S. imposed stiff tariffs on plywood from China, a wood importer in Oregon got a call from a supplier asking if he would like to get some Chinese plywood tariff-free.

How would that work, asked importer David Visse. The products carry an identification code that is checked by U.S. Customs agents.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Visse says the supplier told him. The plywood would be stripped of its Chinese markings, and “we’ll ship it under some other code.”

Every product imported into the U.S. carries a 10-digit designation called an HTS code, of which there are 18,927 in all. Like a taxonomic version of Noah’s Ark, the code provides a common language to bridge disparate markets and identify products in all their variety.

In a world of increasing tariffs, the code has another function: evading those levies. The business of code-fudging is expanding in step with tariff increases, undermining U.S. efforts to shield American business from foreign competition, according to importers, customs officials, trade attorneys and shipping brokers.

As trade conflict grows between the two largest economies, these professionals say, code misclassification is starting to compete with transshipment—the rerouting of goods through third countries—as a way to duck tariffs.

Not surprised.

Smuggling is nothing new.

When the cost of importing goes up the attempts to smuggle the controlled goods will go up as well.

(10-09-2018 10:23 AM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Smuggling is nothing new.

When the cost of importing goes up the attempts to smuggle the controlled goods will go up as well.

True, it's an issue that's been around for a long time. However, no doubt it's getting more sophisticated. Doesn't seem to be a lot of statistics on how much of the economy is affected by smuggling.