White House flags India in transshipment report

The United States — Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy released a report titled 'The Great Transshipment Scam' identifying more than 40 countries as part of a 'shadow transshipment network' used to reroute Chinese goods and evade US tariffs. India was placed in Tier 1, alongside Canada, the European Union, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan, as a 'Diversified Scale Leader'. The report specifically flagged the Pune-Gujarat-Chennai production belt as a potential corridor for China-linked pumps and compressors. It estimated potential illegal transshipment at $40-303 billion annually, with a central estimate of $75 billion, and associated tariff revenue losses of $19-34 billion. The report did not accuse the Indian government or any Indian company of tariff evasion, and it did not impose new tariffs. India's Ministry of External Affairs said it would review the findings, while trade experts criticized the methodology. The report comes amid ongoing India-US trade negotiations and follows a United States — United States Senate bill that could impose punitive tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases.