Archive · 14 Aug 2026
White House Puts India in Top China Transshipment Risk Tier
The White House, which is the part of the US government where the president works, made a report.
The report is about a trick called transshipment.
Transshipment is when goods from one country are sent through another country on their way to a new home.
Some people worry that companies do this to hide where products really come from and avoid paying taxes called tariffs.
India was put on a list of countries that might be used for this trick.
Being on the list is a warning, not a punishment.
India is not getting new taxes right now.
The report points to some factories that do only a little bit of work before changing a product's label.
It says exporters may need to show more paperwork proving their products are really made in India.
India and the United States are still talking about a trade deal.
India was placed in Tier 1 of a new White House report on countries that could be used to reroute Chinese goods and evade US tariffs.
The 25-page report, "The Great Transshipment Scam," identifies more than 40 countries with elevated transshipment risks.
India is grouped under the category "Diversified Scale Leaders" with Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and Israel.
The report highlights the Pune-Gujarat-Chennai manufacturing corridor as a potential channel for pumps and compressors under HS codes 8413 and 8414.
The assessment announces no new tariffs on Indian exports and does not alter existing tariff rates.
- Who
- India and the White House; the report also covers Canada, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and Israel.
- What
- India was placed in Tier 1, under "Diversified Scale Leaders," of the White House report "The Great Transshipment Scam," which flags countries that could reroute Chinese goods to evade US tariffs.
- When
- The article does not state the report's release date; it comes as India and the US work towards an interim trade deal whose framework was announced earlier this year.
- Where
- United States and India, including the Pune-Gujarat-Chennai manufacturing corridor.
- Why
- To identify countries that could serve as channels for rerouting Chinese goods around US tariffs and to flag rules-of-origin compliance concerns.
White House Enforcement Perspective
Trade Flow Legitimacy Perspective
India's role in transshipment
White House Enforcement Perspective
The White House uses strong language to describe India as a significant "enabler" of China-linked transshipment, citing limited assembly, repackaging, relabelling or documentation changes that can alter a product's declared country of origin.
Trade Flow Legitimacy Perspective
Tier 1 covers large industrial economies with significant China-linked processing and legitimate export platforms for the US market; inclusion does not imply most goods exported from India violate US customs rules, and no India-specific penalties were imposed.
What counts as a violation
White House Enforcement Perspective
The report cites "screwdriver factories" doing minimal assembly as examples of operations used to support a false origin claim, treating such practices as violations of substantial transformation rules.
Trade Flow Legitimacy Perspective
Routing goods through a third country is not illegal by itself; a violation occurs only when exporters falsely claim a new country of origin despite the product undergoing insufficient processing.
- Report title
- The Great Transshipment Scam
- India's tier
- Tier 1
- India's category
- Diversified Scale Leaders
- Countries in same category
- Canada, European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Israel
- Report length
- 25 pages
- Countries with elevated risk
- More than 40
- Highlighted corridor
- Pune-Gujarat-Chennai manufacturing corridor
- HS codes cited
- 8413 and 8414 (pumps and compressors)