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ARTICLE · 31 OCTOBER 2012

The Continuing US Trend To Criminalize Customs Violations

Mayer Brown
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On October 17, 2012, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a criminal indictment in a Georgia federal district court, accusing nine individual and corporate defendants of operating a fraudulent scheme to evade more than $20 million in antidumping duties imposed on Chinese imports.

GlobalInternational Law
Sydney Mintzer
Sydney Mintzer
Jing Zhang
Jing Zhang
Kelly Kramer
Kelly Kramer
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Keywords: DOJ, customs violations, antidumping duties, import fraud

On October 17, 2012, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a criminal indictment in a Georgia federal district court, accusing nine individual and corporate defendants of operating a fraudulent scheme to evade more than $20 million in antidumping duties imposed on Chinese imports. The indictment continues an approximately two-year old trend in the United States of criminalizing customs violations, which used to be relegated to civil enforcement.

While a variety of violations have been criminalized, several of these cases have focused on importers and consignees that allegedly circumvented antidumping duty orders. (For further information, see our Legal Updates: " The 'Wolff' at Importers' Doors: Criminal Statute Is New Tool in Trade Enforcement Cases," " Imports and Consignees Increasingly Facing Criminal Prosecutions in Trade Remedy and Customs Enforcement Cases" and " The US Criminalization

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