What happened: U.S. White House allegation of transshipment networks involving India
A U.S. White House report titled “The Great Transhipment Scam” alleges that around 40 countries (including India) enable China to evade U.S. tariffs through third-country routing. The allegation is that goods are shipped through intermediate countries where limited processing occurs, allowing the goods to take on a different apparent origin even though the underlying manufacturing base is in China.
The U.S. White House allegation places India among top “enablers” in a list of “elevated illegal transshipment risk” countries. The allegation also names Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea.
The U.S. White House allegation connects third-country routing to incentives created by U.S. tariff actions. The allegation states that Chinese exporters increasingly route shipments so that goods undergo limited steps such as assembly, finishing, repackaging, relabeling, or documentation changes. These steps, in the allegation’s framework, can help create an appearance of different origin.
The reported estimates cited in the explanation include: About $67 billion in goods transhipped through top hubs (Mexico, India, Vietnam) in 2025.About $28 billion in lost tariff revenue.
The explanation uses an industrial supply-chain illustration linking an industrial production belt involving Pune–Gujarat–Chennai with Chinese pumps and compressors to industrial supply chains in U.S. cities such as Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus.