There is a clever story in the Journal today about how China is avoiding tariffs in the US. Transshipping was always the preferred way to avoid tariffs, which is how Mexico ended up with stockpiles of aluminum sitting in large storage areas. We were not buying Mexican aluminum when they shipped it across the border.
This new approach by China is to change the classification of the goods - in other words, call it something other than what it is. Aluminum becomes auto parts by merely changing the code. This simple method must appeal to a lot of people since it requires little modification of more than paper associated with the shipment. Freight forwarders have been famous for this for a long time when trying to avoid sanctions. Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore seem to have the lead on this form of trade manipulation, but it is so easy that others will gladly do it for a price.
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