Newtrend USA faced an anonymous whistleblower complaint under Title IV, Section 421 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (EAPA), alleging the chemical production company evaded payment of U.S. antidumping duties by transshipping Chinese-origin glycine through its Thai affiliate. Our firm assisted Newtrend in responding to requests for information involving the operational, financial and accounting records of Newtrend Thailand and Newtrend USA and assisted with an on-site audit conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP’s decision validated that Newtrend USA was not involved in any transshipment scheme and that the allegations were false.
Despite several EAPA investigations being conducted since the passage of the EAPA statute in 2017, this is the only instance in which a company has successfully proven that it was not involved in a transshipment scheme.