Another Penalty Assessed in False Claims Act Case on Duty Evasion
Source
American Shipper
Post Date
05/28/2026
The Department of Justice reports that two companies have agreed to pay $19 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly and improperly failing to pay duties owed on flat-rolled steel manufactured in Europe and Asia for more than five years. Under the FCA importers are civilly liable for (1) knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or used a false record or statement material to an obligation to pay or transmit money (e.g., import duties) or property to the U.S. government, or (2) knowingly concealing or knowingly and improperly avoiding or decreasing an obligation to pay or transmit money or property to the U.S. government. Damages of up to three times the amount of money improperly withheld, as well as other penalties, may be imposed. The qui tam provisions of the FCA allow a private party to file an action on behalf of the U.S. and receive a portion of any recovery. According to a DOJ press release, the companies and their president knowingly misrepresented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection that the country of origin of the steel was Canada or the U.S. when they knew the true country of origin was China, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, or Vietnam. This conduct allowed the companies to evade Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs, as well as antidumping and countervailing duties, on subject goods from those countries. As with a much larger settlement also reported recently, the DOJ noted that its Civil Division coordinated this action through the Trade Fraud Task Force, a cross-agency law enforcement effort ?esigned to pursue enforcement actions against parties who seek to evade tariffs and other duties, as well as smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy.?
