IMPORTS—Customs Agents Uncover Rerouted Chinese Apparel

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U.S. customs officials at the Port of Los Angeles are stopping tons of apparel goods marked “Made in Cambodia” or “Made in Hong Kong” because they suspect the goods may have been rerouted illegally from China.

China is one of the top producers of apparel imported to the United States. But as that country quickly surpasses its import quotas, some importers are transshipping their goods to other countries, sticking on new labels, and then shipping them here, customs brokers said.

“We have stopped a fair amount,” said Bruce Raine, an import specialist with U.S. Customs in Los Angeles. “Why this is happening we can’t pinpoint. It could be that we are looking more, or there is more coming in. It’s hard to tell.”

U.S. Customs did not have statistics that measure how severe the problem has become.

What is clear is that in Los Angeles County, more apparel is imported from China than from any other country. In 1999 (the latest year for which statistics are available), L.A. imported $6 billion of apparel goods from China, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Another $1.1 billion came from Hong Kong, which is under a different quota. Last year, a flood of clothing imports came into local seaports from Cambodia, which in late 1996 received “most favored nation” trading status with the United States.

“We started to see things hit in May 1999,” said Theresa Guerrero, a senior import specialist with U.S. Customs. “We started to see things that were not correct on the documentation. There were fraudulent (import) visas.”

That continued until June 2000, when fewer false visas showed up, Guerrero said.

But the problem persists. Illegal textile transshipments are nothing new, according to the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees. But as more countries gain “most favored nation” status and are subject to lower tariffs, foreign apparel manufacturers try to save money or skirt import quotas by sending their goods to Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan or even Qatar.

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