In a high-stakes crackdown on trade fraud, the US Department of Justice has announced that patio furniture manufacturer Grosfillex Inc. will shell out $4.9 million to settle claims that it dodged US import duties on aluminium components shipped from China.
The Pennsylvania-based company stands accused of playing a shell game with customs paperwork, allegedly submitting falsified documents to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to sidestep antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on aluminium extrusions sourced from the People’s Republic of China.
Federal investigators say Grosfillex skirted tariffs by misclassifying certain aluminium parts as duty-free and packaging others into so-called furniture “kits” to obscure their true origin and avoid detection. In a twist that added fuel to the fire, the company reportedly failed to correct its customs filings even after realising the initial entries were inaccurate.
“Antidumping and countervailing duties protect American companies from unfair subsidies and trade practices that harm domestic industries,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
The $4.9 million settlement closes the curtain on a case that underscores Washington’s tougher stance on trade compliance and serves as a warning to other importers tempted to cut corners.
A whistleblower’s tip has led to a multimillion-dollar reckoning for Grosfillex, the US-based patio furniture maker accused of disguising Chinese aluminium parts to sidestep import duties. The $4.9 million settlement stems from a False Claims Act lawsuit filed by Edward Wisner, a former employee turned whistleblower, who will receive $962,662.74 as his share of the government’s recovery.
Federal authorities allege Grosfillex masked the true origin of aluminium extrusions from China by submitting misleading customs forms and misclassifying shipments to avoid antidumping and countervailing duties. While the company did not admit wrongdoing, the settlement resolves serious allegations of trade fraud.
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The case was investigated by the Justice Department’s Commercial Litigation Branch, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Homeland Security Investigations, reinforcing the government’s ongoing crackdown on duty evasion and customs violations.
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