CBP details duty evasion cases involving undervaluation, misclassification and transshipment

CBP's Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Center described enforcement cases in which importers evaded duties through undervaluation, misclassification and illegal transshipment. In one case, 12 Patek Philippe watches shipped from St. Maarten were undervalued at about $500 each against a value of over $1.9 million, drawing $21,000 in duties, a $108,000 penalty and over $86,740 in unpaid duties from prior shipments. In another, plastic food containers from China classified as household goods at 3.4% instead of the 3% commercial rate left the importer owing $50 million, and four importers of the same product owe nearly $39 million combined.