Trump accuses EU of helping China evade US tariffs

The administration of Donald Trump has opened a new trade front with one of its main allies by accusing the European Union of being among the regions used by China to evade US tariffs through an international network for rerouting and re-exporting goods.

The warning comes as Washington reviews the tariffs it applies to trading partners around the world and just months after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez travelled to Beijing to strengthen bilateral relations and signed 19 economic, technological and trade cooperation agreements with the Chinese government.

Washington targets more than 40 countries

The White House argues that the problem is not limited to China, but also involves countries allegedly acting as intermediaries, allowing Chinese-made products to enter the United States under a different declared origin and therefore face lower tariffs.

Washington refers to the practice as “transshipment.” It involves sending Chinese goods to a third country, where they may undergo minimal modifications — such as assembling a component, changing packaging, applying a new label or issuing new customs documentation — before being exported to the United States.

According to the Trump administration, such modifications are often insufficient to legally change the origin of the goods and may therefore constitute customs fraud.

“For years, the great transshipment scam has allowed communist China to launder its exports through more than 40 countries,” Peter Navarro, Trump's top trade adviser, said during a briefing with journalists.

A report prepared by the White House identifies a global transshipment network involving more than 40 countries, including several European states. Countries are classified according to their trade volumes linked to China, the integration of their supply chains with the Chinese economy and the facilities they offer for concealing the true origin of products.

EU among the highest-risk regions

The European Union is placed in the highest-risk category, alongside Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea, Israel and Taiwan.

The report does not provide specific evidence against any individual EU member state, but argues that the European market forms part of the main corridors allegedly used to divert Chinese goods towards the United States.

Within the EU, the White House specifically identifies Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania as an “European processing belt”, where components originating in China could be assembled, tested, repackaged or given a final finish before being exported.

Belgium and the Netherlands are identified as major logistics hubs, thanks to their ports, customs warehouses and international export networks.

One of the examples cited by the Trump administration involves an electrically powered reclining chair manufactured in Vietnam but equipped with a motor produced entirely in China. If the motor is simply installed in Vietnam before the finished product is exported, Washington argues that the product still contains an essentially Chinese component and that declaring it Vietnamese could allow US tariffs to be avoided.

Up to $75 billion in goods

The White House claims that these practices have expanded since Trump imposed the first major tariffs on China in 2018.

According to its calculations, as direct imports from China declined, imports from third countries considered high-risk increased at almost the same rate.

The report acknowledges that some of this shift could reflect legitimate relocation of production, but argues that the evolution of trade flows is too significant to be explained solely by normal business decisions.

The White House estimates that between February 2025 and February 2026, between $40 billion and $75 billion worth of goods may have entered the United States through these mechanisms, although it warns that the actual figure could be even higher.

Navarro also made clear that Washington no longer sees the issue as being limited to Beijing.

“This is not just about China,” he said. “This is about the more than 40 countries that facilitate transshipment.”

New trade deals could include sanctions

The Trump administration wants to make the fight against transshipment one of the central conditions of future US trade agreements.

Navarro announced that new trade deals will include specific clauses targeting such practices and warned that countries allowing the transshipment of goods could face trade sanctions.

The White House is also developing an artificial intelligence system known as “Border Detective”, designed to analyse trade routes, company ownership, the actual production capacity of factories, customs documentation, product composition and even X-ray images of shipping containers.

The aim is to identify suspicious shipments before they reach US ports.

If customs authorities confirm fraud, Washington could seek not only the tariffs applicable to the shipment detected, but also duties on similar shipments imported by the same importer during the previous year.

With the strategy, the White House aims to recover billions of dollars and increase pressure on countries it considers platforms for the indirect entry of Chinese goods into the US market.