WASHINGTON D.C. — The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released a report titled “The Great Transshipment Scam” on Thursday, August 13, 2026. The document alleges that the rerouting of Chinese-made goods through a network of 40 different jurisdictions has cost the United States as much as $303 billion.

To address these activities, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy outlined plans to develop an AI-enabled detective border to ingest and analyze global trade data to identify illicit transshipment activities. The report did not specify any action to be taken against China and the 40 other economies named.

Timeline

On Thursday, August 13, 2026, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released a report titled “The Great Transshipment Scam.” On the same day, the report named 40 economies allegedly involved in China’s “shadow transshipment network.” It categorized eight regions under Tier 1 as “diversified scale leaders,” including Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Europe, Mexico, and India. The report also listed six economies under Tier 2 as scale leaders with significant economic integration with China, including Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. Additionally, it classified the bulk of the 40 nations under Tier 3 as “small, opportunistic Chinese targets,” including Singapore, Myanmar, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The report claimed that rerouting Chinese-made goods through this network cost the U.S. as much as $303 billion and outlined plans to develop an AI-enabled detective border to ingest and analyze global trade data to identify illicit transshipment activities.

What's New

Additional reporting indicates that the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy report titled 'The Great Transshipment Scam' estimates that potential tariff-evading transshipments may have been within a range of US$40 billion (S$51.2 billion) to US$303 billion annually.

How Sources Differ

Estimates regarding the scale of transshipment vary between agencies. The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy report titled 'The Great Transshipment Scam' estimates that potential tariff-evading transshipments may have been within a range of US$40 billion (S$51.2 billion) to US$303 billion annually. In contrast, the White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that potential illegal transshipment currently takes place in the range of $34.2 billion to $89.6 billion.

The scope of the report's findings also presents differing details. While the desk web notes that the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy report titled 'The Great Transshipment Scam' estimates that potential tariff-evading transshipments may have been within a range of US$40 billion (S$51.2 billion) to US$303 billion annually, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy report focuses on specific elements such as the release of the report on Thursday, August 13, 2026. Other details include the naming of 40 economies allegedly involved in China’s “shadow transshipment network,” the outlining of plans to develop an AI-enabled detective border to ingest and analyze global trade data, and the claim that federal revenue losses range between $19 billion and $26 billion due to what it deems “illegal transshipment.”

Why It Matters

The report outlines major economic stakes, alleging that illegal transshipment has displaced 450,000 jobs and reduced annual GDP by $113 billion to $150 billion. The proposed AI-enabled detective border represents a technological shift in how the U.S. intends to monitor global trade data for illicit activities, though no specific enforcement actions against the named economies were detailed in the document.

The events described span from 2026, indicating a period of alleged trade diversion. The inclusion of major economies in Tier 1 and Tier 2 suggests that the U.S. views this as a widespread structural issue rather than isolated incidents, prompting responses from entities such as the European Commission and Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry regarding their regulatory autonomy and compliance standards.