NORFOLK, Va. — On June 23, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized $123,554 worth of kitchen cabinets from China in Norfolk. The cabinets were hidden and undervalued in documentation in an attempt to avoid customs officials and duties.
CBP officers first inspected the container on May 18. Documents listed items inside containers to be 10 kitchen cabinets, with a declared value of $500, and 691 other items such as metal ornaments, home decorations, storage boxes and decorative panels. Despite being listed, officers found that none of the additional items were in the containers. Instead there were 781 cartons of kitchen cabinets.
Officers detained the shipment which was set to be delivered to an address in Los Angeles. Additionally, they consulted trade experts at CBP's Consumer Products and Mass Merchandising Center of Excellence and Expertise. Experts determined that the cabinets were subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws. These laws provide fair competition for U.S. manufacturers on dumped and subsidized imported goods.
“Customs and Border Protection’s trade enforcement mission is designed to help level the playing field for United States-based businesses against bad actors who attempt to gain advantage by deliberately underpricing their products shipped to the U.S. or who grossly undervalue the cost of those shipments to evade paying a fair duty,” said CBP Area Port Director Keri Brady, Area Port of Norfolk-Newport News.
“CBP will continue to support economic fairness, protect domestic industry, and uphold the integrity of U.S. supply chains by targeting unfair trade practices and other schemes designed to cheat the system.”
Also in early June, officers seized 5,184 upholstered folding chairs after the Consumer Product Safety Commission determined that the chairs violated the Flammable Fabrics Act. The chairs were priced at $35,000 and similarly, were being shipped from China to Los Angeles. This wouldn't be the first instance CBP has came in contact with folding chairs. Another shipment was obtained back in April with 2,600 upholstered folding chairs, also violating the Flammable Fabrics Act.
CBP is committed to protecting our nation's economic security by enforcing U.S. trade laws through an aggressive trade enforcement approach. This approach demonstrates how CBP is using all its authorities to combat trade by detecting high-risk activity, deterring non-compliance, and disrupting fraudulent behavior.
CBP screens international travelers and cargo, and searches for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, invasive weeds and pests, and other illicit products that potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses , and our nation's safety and economic vitality.
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